Year: 1983

We ended part one of this message dealing with Jeremiah 8:22, where the Lord is figuratively speaking of the nation of Israel as though she is physically sick, and inquires of them, “Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” That verse alone should be enough for us to realize that God is not against physicians and medicine, even if there were no other references available, but there are others, and we will get them into this message. Naturally God is dealing with the spiritual condition of the nation here, but He uses this natural example to make His point clear. In other words, If you were physically sick you would know what to do, you would get hold of some balm, (medicine) or even call in a physician, so why do you not take the same care for our spiritual health? You know what you should do, so why are you not doing it? No. The truth is, sin and rebellion had so blinded them, they were ignorant of any spiritual reality, and God had to remind them that there was a cure for their condition. We see God using this same terminology in connection with another nation, in Jeremiah 46:11, so let us notice what He says. This nation is looked upon as an unbeliever, that cannot accept the reality of Israel’s true Jehovah. The nation was Egypt, and they were not altogether ignorant of the works of the God of Israel, but they just simply could not leave their gods, to trust in the God of Israel. Let us read verse 11. “Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.” Why is God refusing to allow Egypt to be cured? Because of the way they treated the people of Israel. But the beautiful setting is there, for us to see that the same medicine mentioned for Israel was also mentioned for Egypt. Therefore you would say, God is a divine healer; He does not need medicine, let me just ask you this, Have you ever heard of white corpuscles in the blood stream? Why do you suppose the Creator put them there? If He was going to heal all of His children by a divine act every time, there would be no need of them having white corpuscles to fight against sickness and diseases that are detrimental to a person’s health. Of course we all know it is an absolute fact, that no doctor can heal, but common sense also teaches us that the Creator has enabled them to discover certain medicines, and certain procedures that can assist in the natural law of healing that works in our physical bodies, and that law of healing works whether a person is a Christian or not. It simply boils down to the fact, that many times the natural elements of our body that were put there by the Creator to fight against sickness and disease, become weakened in one way or another, and medical science has discovered ways to aid and strengthen those natural means. That is all they can do, for all healing is of God, whether it is through His law of healing, or by a divine act of His sovereignty. Therefore we need to shake our minds, and get the cobwebs out, so we can stop letting the devil whip us up and down the road through sheer ignorance. Furthermore, there is no reason for anyone to feel that this message is designed to promote doctors and medicine; for it is an honest effort, not to push any certain idea, but to set people’s mind free from ideas of bondage, so they are able to receive a true leading from the Lord. Then once your faith in God is grounded upon what the Bible declares to be the will of God for you, there is nothing that can shake that. You could hear a dozen different versions of how men think we ought to live and conduct ourselves, and none of that would change your scripturally founded faith. That is why we need to examine all, or at least many of the different circumstances in the Bible, where people were healed, so we do not try to limit God to one certain way of doing something for us.

THE PHYSICIAN AND HIS MEDICINE

Alright now, we have looked at a prophecy concerning Israel where the Lord used the word balm as a medicine for their sickness. Then we looked at a prophecy concerning Egypt; where the same word was used, but in a negative way. No matter how much medicine they used, they would not be cured, for the hand of God was upon them because of the way they had treated His chosen people Israel. So now, let us go to Jeremiah 51, and start reading in verse 7, where we will find a prophecy to Babylon, a different nation of people, but He still uses this same word BALM, in relation to medication for their sickness, and in each case where this word is used in a figurative way, the necessary balm for their sickness would be genuine repentance. Israel was given a chance to repent and be healed, and Egypt had gone too far to repent, so let us see what He says to Babylon, here in Jeremiah 51:7. “Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.” The children of Israel were in Babylon at this time, so the actual fall of Babylon was still in the future when this prophecy was given. It is telling in advance what is going to happen to this city when the time does come for her to be dealt with. But God has used Babylon to chasten His own people, and He sees that they are going to become so apostate and high minded that they will have to be brought down, and this prophecy is for that future time. It actually became effective the night Belshazzar the king saw the handwriting on the wall, and Daniel was called in to interpret it. The interpretation was this, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Now let us read verse 8. “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; and take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.” God is not actually saying, Take a basket full of balm, and give it to them, so they can be healed. But He is making the point, that by the time this prophecy goes into effect, she is going to be in such a state of sickness she will need a cure, and such a cure is available, if you just had the mind to know how to use it. So we must see here again, that balm is used in a figurative sense, meaning, Repent, Babylon, Turn from your hideous ways. But did they repent? No. The Babylonian kingdom was given over to the Medes and Persians; after Belshazzar was slain. But what we see in these three instances, is how God used in a figurative sense, the likeness of medicine in all three cases. To Israel He said, Have you forgotten already, that there is a healing remedy? You see, it was for His children, but they had forgotten about it. What had they forgotten? They had already forgotten about their God. He says to them, You are like a hurt man; you are in pain, and because of that, I am hurt. But He is still reminding them, that there is balm in Gilead, and also physicians, but you had better hurry. But to the Egyptians and Babylonians, even though He used the medical terminology, they were not going to be healed. In the case of Egypt, He would not even allow them to be healed, and Babylon would not meet the healing requirements. Now some of you may say, Just what have you proved by these scriptures? We have established by the scriptures, that God is not against the use of doctors and medicines, and from these Old Testament scriptures, we have also seen why it was not a strange thing for Jesus to speak to the people in parables. God had been doing it all along. Let us just go to Luke 5:30-32, where Jesus used this same terminology, that we have seen in Jeremiah. This is where Levi the publican, became a disciple of Jesus, and made a great feast in his house, where Jesus and His disciples were also included among the many guests that were invited. Naturally Levi being a publican, and also man of the other guests as well, the Scribes and Pharisees looked upon the whole thing as a gathering of no good sinners that were not fit to associate with, so they murmur and find fault. Notice these three verse though, and see how Jesus responds. “But their Scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Jesus answered them saying, They that are whole need not a PHYSICIAN; but they that are sick. (In other words, the doctor is for sick folks, and these people were spiritually sick, so the great Physician came upon the scene to heal them. There is your figurative application, just like we saw in Jeremiah.) I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” When Jesus went into Nazareth where He was raised up, and taught the people in the synagogue, they marveled at the wisdom with which He spake unto them, but they simply could not get their thinking above the fact that He was a home town boy. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? Are not his brothers and sisters right here with us? They were offended at Him, and that caused Jesus to say to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” The did not know He was the great Physician. He laid hands on a few sick folk, and healed them, but there were no mighty miracles done there. His ministry was really launched at, and around the area of Capernaum, and as we follow Him through the gospels, we are going to see many healings, but I am not quite ready to do that.

FRUITS OF REBELLION

At this time, I would like to go back to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 7-14, where we may see a little of how God dealt with King Asa, king of the two southern tribes which was called by the name of Judah. We have already mentioned King Hezekiah, how when he cried unto the Lord with his whole heart, after God’s prophet had told him to set his house in order, because he was going to die, the Lord answered his cry, and added 15 years to his life. But now we want to see what happens when a man allows his heart to be filled with pride, and fails to seek unto the Lord in his time of distress. In the former years of his reign a large host of Ethiopians has come against Judah in battle, and at that time Asa cried unto the Lord for help, saying, Help us O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. The Lord heart his prayer and began to fight for him against his enemies, and Asa’s army just literally wiped them out. God sent His prophet to Asa saying, “The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.” But even though Asa was a man that desired to see his people follow the right ways of the Lord, and in spite of all that he did to rid the land of idol worship, success went to his head, and his heart became puffed up. Therefore when the king of the ten tribes of Israel came against him, instead of seeking the Lord for help as he had done before, he called upon the king of Syria to help him. King Baasha was driven back, and Asa thought everything was going his way, until a prophet of God spoke to him saying, “Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, He delivered them into thine hand.” When the prophet finished his message to him, it was more than Asa could stand. He became enraged at the prophet, and had him put in jail, and because some of the people might have been affected by what they heard the prophet say, he began to oppress them. Naturally the Lord is not going to let him reject the message of His prophet, and conduct himself in this manner without some chastisement. So when he became diseased in his feet, and went to the physicians instead of calling upon the Lord to heal him, God would not allow him to be healed, and he died a year later. Now think seriously. Was it because he called in the physicians, that the Lord refused to help him? Absolutely not. It was because of the way he had been living his life, and the spirit he had taken on. He enlisted military support from another nation, knowing that God had already told him that He would be with him as long as he would do right. Then he refused to accept the words of God’s prophet when he was sent to rebuke him, and retaliated by persecuting some of the people that he thought might have been influenced against him by the words of the prophet. It was after all of this, that he became diseased in his feet, and his heart was still rebellious enough that he sought the help of physicians, rather than the favor of God, knowing full well that God would be with him, if he truly repented and humbled himself. God just allowed that condition to take him off the scene. God takes no delight in healing people, just so they can have a healthy body while they are traveling down a road of rebellion against Him. There are some Pentecostal preachers that will use this case to preach against going to doctors, and taking medicine though, without even considering what led up to the final hours of Asa’s life. They will say, You see there, that man went to the doctor. That is why God would not let him get well. They will not even bother to look back at Hezekiah’s case, where the prophet of God instructed his servants to use medication on his boils. Do you think for one minute, that God needed that poultice of figs in order to heal that boil? You would be foolish to believe that, yet God chose that route to get the job done. Therefore I say to you my brothers and sisters of this great family of God, When you come in contact with these preachers who will refuse to pray for a person unless they stop going to the doctor, shun them like you would the plague. They are operating outside of their God invested authority. They will get you into trouble. I am not saying God will not heal many of the people they pray for; I am only saying that they are unnecessarily forcing innocent souls to abstain from a natural provision that God has allowed, and it is all because they have misread and misapplied the word of God. They push their pet doctrine ahead of everything else, and claim that the blessings of God are conditional upon one’s adhering to that doctrine; and most of those doctrines are doctrines of devils, because they are Antichrist (not according to the word of God) in origin. If you could just see the souls that have been wounded and bruised, and their minds twisted, by the way God’s word has been handled, it would grieve your heart. That is why I keep reminding you that Jesus never preached one sermon on divine healing. It isn’t necessary. Where the gospel is preached, God is always present to heal, if the healing would serve a purpose in His overall plan. But you believe me, When God calls a man to preach the gospel, He does not call that man just to specialize in getting people healed, so they can go merrily on their same old way of life. Furthermore when Jesus rebuked anyone for their unbelief, it was because they had lost their way with God, and not just because they did not have faith to be healed. As I said already, When Jesus appeared on the scene in Israel, that whole nation was at a spiritual low. They had lost their way through the word of God, and were depending on rituals and certain routines, if they had any thought about God at all. That is why Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief.

SOME DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

Coming back to the New Testament now, we want to look at various instances where people were healed by a divine act of God, and examine the circumstances. In the 17th chapter of Luke, we see where ten lepers were healed, and only one of them came back to thank Jesus for cleansing him. Only one man out of ten that were cleansed was truly thankful for what had been done for him. The other nine had something else on their mind. It is not even written what they did. We just have to assume that they were like a lot of people are today; they wanted to be strong and healthy, in order to pursue certain interests in life. It is like saying, Oh, if God would just heal my foot, I would do my utmost to be a champion runner. But once the foot is healed, God is left completely out of the picture. One woman came to Bro. Branham, out in California, when he had a prayer line, all decked out and painted up, but she was there to ask for healing. Bro. Branham saw what her trouble was, and asked her, What would you like to do, if God would heal you? I do not remember exactly what it was that she wanted to do, but it was some worldly profession, like singing, or dancing, or something along that line. In other words, brothers and sisters, many of the people who seek God so earnestly for something for their flesh, when they get it, they will burn it up for the world, and never even give glory to God for what they received. On the other hand there are those like the little woman that had the blood disease for twelve years, and had spent everything she had on physicians and medicine, and was still no better. When Jesus came to her town, she did something that no one had ever done before. She knew her chances of ever getting to see Jesus face to face were next to impossible, but something began to move within her, prompting her to press through the crowd that was following Him, with the hope that she might be able just to touch the hem of His garment. She had said within herself, “If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be whole.” Where do you suppose she ever got such an idea anyway? I believe the eternal Spirit was prompting her to think like that. He is always the one that moves everything into position for what is going to take place. Nothing happens merely by chance. Everything works precisely according to the plan of God, the Father of all creation. He is the one that was urging that little woman to do something no one else had ever done before. She approached Jesus from behind, working her way forward through that great crowd that was following Him. I can just see her. With all the strength she has left, she squeezed between this one and that one, little by little, but with such determination, until she finally got close enough she could lunge forward just enough to touch his garment. That was all it took though, for when she touched that HEM, she touched HIM, for she was healed immediately. Jesus suddenly turned saying, Who touched me? (In Mark, it says, Who touched my clothes?) Nevertheless the point is, The little woman was inspired by the Spirit of God to do what she did, and through her persistence and determination she was enabled to fulfill that urging and touch the hem of His garment, and she got exactly what she desired, complete healing. Jesus looking at her standing there trembling, after she had confessed what she had done, and why, said to her, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Now, Saints: You can believe me: this little woman was not seeking to be healed just so she could be a better dancer, or singer, nor anything else like that. She wanted to be a better child of God, and she was willing to invest some energy and effort to attain what she desired of God. I believe there is a lesson to be learned from that very thing. Some people act as though all one need to do is just sit down somewhere, fold their hands, and wait on God to do everything that needs to be done for them. That is the kind of attitude that says, If God wants to do it, He will. Technically that is the truth, but I feel that it is the will of God for us to pray and study His word, and show some attitude of wanting to come to terms with Him. Now I certainly do not mean that we are to bargain with God, but I do mean to impress upon you the fact that god wants us to commit our lives completely into His hands in total surrender, and we will only do that when our prayer life, and our study habits are pointed in that direction. Any way you look at this woman’s healing though, you just have to accept the idea that God does certain things completely contrary to the usual way, strictly for the purpose of showing that He is God in every situation, and that He is not limited to any certain form. His word is His sovereign choice. In every other instance, Jesus either prayed a mass prayer for the people, or layed hands on them, or something like that where He did something to effect the healing, but in this case it worked the other way, the recipient exerted all the outward effort, and obtained the same results. But let me add this, Not without the leading of the Father. Our human efforts are vain in such matters, unless we have the leading of the Spirit of God to do what we do.

GREAT MULTITUDES FOLLOW THE SIGNS

Let me take you to the 14th chapter of Matthew and show you what that little woman’s bold endeavor led to, after the word had spread, about how she was healed just from touching the hem of the garment Jesus wore. I will just fill you in a little without reading all of the chapter. When Jesus was told how King Herod had been offended by John the Baptist, and he had him beheaded because of it, Jesus went out from the people in a boat, to a desert place where He could be alone for a while. But before very long, a great multitude had traveled around the Sea of Galilee on foot and found Him, and the Bible says He was moved with compassion toward them, and healed the sick among them. But by this time, it was getting late, and the disciples came to Jesus, and asked Him to send them all away so they could go into the village and buy food for themselves. (We are going to see here, another situation ordained of the Father.) Jesus said, They need not depart; you feed them. The disciples replied, Lord, we only have five loaves and two fishes. But Jesus said, Bring them to me, and then have the multitude to sit down on the grass. He blessed the food and gave it to His disciples to distribute to the multitude, and they were all fed, and had twelve baskets full of food left over. Jesus then sent the multitude away, and his disciples were sent by ship, (or boat) to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and He went up into a mountain to pray. That night, He came to his disciples walking on the water, when they were caught in a storm, and their little ship was being tossed around by those big waves. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, they became even more afraid, for they did not know that it was Him. Then He said, “Be not afraid; it is I, and that is when Peter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. Jesus just merely said, Come. Well, you all know that story. Let me get to the part I wanted you to take note of. In verse 34, we read, “And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto Him all that were diseased; and besought Him that they might only TOUCH THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.” Do you see the difference here? Now they were coming to Jesus saying, Will you just pass through our town? You won’t even have to pray for anyone; if you will just walk by and let them touch the hem of your garment, that will be enough. They were looking for benefits. Those great multitudes that followed Him, had no revelation. They did not care all that much about hearing Him preach the word of God. It was the loaves and fishes, and the healing they were interested in. It is the same way today. The great multitudes are still following the signs, looking for something for their natural bodies, rather than food for their undernourished souls. That great multitude that followed Jesus, and was fed with the five loaves and two fishes, were following Him without any revelation of who He really was. Then when they did begin to get a revelation, after He fed them, their attitude and motive was wrong. They were ready to take Him by force and make Him a king. That is why He got away from them, and went up into a mountain to pray. When that same bunch of people caught up with Him again, they began saying, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? In other words, How did you get back over here? We saw your disciples leave without you. Jesus did not even answer their question. Notice how He responded, as we go to John 6:26. (John gives some details here, that Matthew did not give.) “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” They received no revelation whatsoever from all those miracles they had witnessed, but when they found someone who could feed thousands of hungry people with one little boy’s lunch, they were ready to make Him their king. Jesus began preaching the word of God to that gang, and by the time He finished, He had taken from them everything they thought they had. They were ready to stone Him. That is why I made the statement earlier, that in one place a hundred people might be healed, and only one truly become a believer, and other times, one could be healed and a hundred would believe. That is just a number I used to give the example, but let us go to the 3rd chapter of Acts, where Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray, and you will see what I meant. A lame man lay there begging, and when they stopped, and Peter said, Look on us, he thought they were going to drop some money in his cup, but what he got was better than that. Peter, looking at him said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. He then took that man by the hand, and lifted him up, and at that moment the power of God healed him completely, and he entered into the temple with them (the Bible says) walking, and leaping, and praising God. That caused a great gathering of people, for they all knew this was the crippled man that had sat by the gate begging. But Peter noticed how all the people were looking at him and John, and this gave him a chance to preach the gospel to them. He said, “Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know.” Brothers and Sisters: You can read the rest of it later, if you care to, but my point is climaxed in the 4th verse of chapter 4, for it says that about five thousand men believed, even though Peter and John ended up in jail because of it all. There we see one miracle of healing, and five thousand believers as a result of it. What made the difference? It shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that God, the great Creator, the eternal Spirit ordained every bit of it to be exactly as it was. He has never let man run it, and He never will. The sad face of it is, Too many people are out here trying to save the world the way they want to. But you believe me, it is not going to work that way. It is all going to be exactly as the Creator designed it to be. Those early disciples did not need to preach on divine healing to get people healed. They just preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God confirmed their word with miracles of all sorts, but He did it according to His will, just like Paul wrote to the Hebrews. The world, and especially this nation have had their opportunity to walk in the light of truth, and they have for the most part, chosen their own self willed way, and they are so foolish as to believe that God will add His blessings to their carnal efforts, but I have news for them, God has left them groping in the darkness of a form of religion. The light of truth is fast leaving the Gentiles, and only the little bride of Christ however few there may be of them, are the only exception. They will have light, even though darkness is all around them. Furthermore, this old world is on the brink of a drastic change, because of the spirit that is taking over the minds of people. You will never be able to just drift along in a haphazard way again. The time is at hand when every individual soul will have to take a stand on one side or the other. All middle ground is fast disappearing.

ON GUARD AGAINST CULTS

It seems that ever few days we hear something in the news about some extreme religious group somewhere. We are living in a day when God could do a thousand miracles and they might not even be mentioned in the news. But you let some fanatical group somewhere do something to get the attention of the news media, and it will be top news for days. Do you know why? The devil, knowing that his time is short, is trying to do everything possible to discredit every true work of God. You do not find the news media publishing much to discredit the big name churches, they are just after everything that stands apart from them. In other words, All the major denominational churches are in one way or the other, already on their way back to Rome, back into the open arms of mama. (Roman Catholicism) Therefore they will be a tool that the devil can use when the time comes. But little groups of true believers that refuse to be a part of that ecumenical image of the old Roman beast, are a thorn in the flesh to all those liberals that call themselves Christians. So when some fanatical group does something to get their name in the news, it is usually worked around to reflect on every little assembly everywhere. Certain people are just looking for any reason they can find to brand everything outside of their main denominational churches, a cult. We know we are not a cult, and we know, that by the standards of the Bible we are not fanatical, but you try to tell one of those trinitarian theologians that we are not a radical group, after they find out that we are a one God people. They have no revelation, so they do not know the difference. They just know that we are living in an hour when every evil device imaginable is being propagated under the cover of religion, and that includes gambling, prostitution, and every sort of worldly involvement. Those who know the truth, know that Roman Catholicism is the biggest cult upon the face of the earth, but you will never get very many of these world pleasing, compromising, so called Christians to see that. Now here is my reason for saying these things. Every little group that starts up, has some scripture from the Bible they use, to rally around, and those that major on a certain verse or two, always have them lifted out of their scriptural context. That is basically what we are dealing with in this message on divine healing, but there are dozens of other areas where you find the same thing. The most heart rendering one that I have heard of though, has just been brought to my attention recently. It concerns certain groups whose main doctrine is built around the scriptures that speak of disciplining children. They have taken scriptures like, “a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding, (and) He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes, (and) Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him, (and here is one I imagine they really lean on, Prov. 23:13-14) Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul to from hell,” And they have built a doctrine around them. They meet together and beat the little children. Did you ever hear of such a pitiful misuse of the scriptures? Of course we all know there are plenty of scriptures that deal with correcting our children, but a good parent does not even need to go to the Bible and find a scriptures that authorizes him or her to discipline their children. That is a God given responsibility that goes with parenthood. But I will tell you one thing, God never had anything written in the pages of His holy word, that would authorize anyone to do what those poor deranged souls are doing in this twentieth century. They will never deliver their souls from hell by beating their children half to death. But my point is, There are certain groups springing up, that are doing this very thing, in the name of religion. Is it any wonder the authorities are looking for religious cults? The world is full of them. Religion is a cover from much evil and ungodliness in the world, and just knowing this, ought to cause every true believer to set his heart on getting his life in line with the word of God. We have all been guilty in former days of taking certain scriptures and giving them more place than God ever meant for us to, but as we grow in the stature of Christ, we ought to realize more and more that god’s plan of salvation was designed to set the inner man free from bondage of sin and death. The outer man reaps many benefits from it though, because of being the temple where the inner man dwells, but the flesh should never be given first place. Emphasis should never be placed upon something for the flesh at the cost of neglecting the inner man. Furthermore divine healing is definitely not a case of mind over matter. It is a divine act of a sovereign God, and every other genuine healing regardless of what the person might have been subjected to by medical science, is still of the Lord. Divine healing is wrought through an operation of faith, but even still, we have to realize that even the faith is an impartation from God. Furthermore I cannot help but stress the fact that salvation is not tied to divine healing, and a person’s faith simply cannot be judged by whether they get healed or not.

ONLY THE PREDESTINED WILL UNDERSTAND

Healing for our body is a benefit that God appropriated through the atonement work at Calvary, but it is not an absolute necessity that every believer be healed. Many times it almost seems like God is more merciful to sinners than He is to the believers, but that is because everything God does to, for, and through the believer, is done to bring him or her to a closer relationship, or fellowship with Himself. On the other hand, that sinner might be judged by the very way he treated the grace and mercy of God that was bestowed upon him. God gives them a chance to either accept or reject him, some one way, and some another. Our human feelings would like to see everyone healed, and there is nothing wrong with feeling like that, but that in no way authorizes us to preach only on divine healing. That is why some say the promises of God are not fulfilled; those promises were lifted out of context, and projected ahead of the gospel message that is to supercede all such promises. When you go out with the idea of getting people healed, and then teaching and instructing then into the kingdom of God, you are putting the cart in front of the horse, so to speak. It is also a mistake to tell people how easy it is to get saved, for unless the Spirit of God is drawing that soul he could never be saved, no matter what you tell him. The world is full of “churches” today, simply because the gospel has been so watered down that anyone, anywhere, can just gulp it down, and go right on doing what they had been doing all along. Brother! If you will preach it like Jesus and His apostles preached it, it will change the lives of those that receive it! You do not have to worry about driving people away by preaching too hard, if your revelation is in line with the word of God either, for every predestined seed is going to hear his or her call. If the others get offended and leave, you just leave that in the hands of God. I will give you one guarantee by the authority of the word of God, There will not be any empty chairs at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and neither will there be anyone standing around looking for a place. Saints would you agree with me, that the Father knew exactly how many would be there, from before the foundation of the world? You know He did. Why are we to preach the gospel then? So those predestined souls can hear their call to come home, and so all those that hear it, and reject it, will be without excuse. The blood that Jesus shed at Calvary was for the sins of the whole world, (In other words, It was payment in full for the sins of all who will accept it as such.) But only those whom the Father foreknew will accept this atonement work as being sufficient. All the rest who hear the gospel will in one way or another reject the Savior, Jesus Christ. Does that mean that God picked some to be saved, and the rest to be lost? Not like a lot of people think of it. Predestination is a reality only because of God’s foreknowledge. Because He could look down through time, even before He ever inaugurated His actual work of creation, and see all who would ever believe the gospel and be saved, He could pronounce them to be predestinated to full heirship in His great family. There is nothing so difficult to understand about that, if you have a spiritual mind, and after all, no others are supposed to understand it. Furthermore every predestined soul is going to receive their portion of everything that is related to their particular hour of time. The various prophecies of the Bible will every one be fulfilled in the day that they were given for, and in that day God will be the one that draws some people up to the level of that prophecy. In other words, No prophecy of the Bible will be fulfilled without some people somewhere, and at sometime understanding it. God prophesied through Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 14, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel,” and in Matthew 1:23, we find that the name Emmanuel means, God with us. But did that prophecy mean that the son of this particular virgin would be God with us as soon as he was born? Absolutely not. He lived on earth thirty years being a perfect Son of God, before that became a complete fulfilled reality. Did all believers through time understand that? No. But the apostles of Jesus and the saints of that first church understood it perfectly. It was only after the tares got into the church, that this true revelation of the Godhead was lost, and it did not happen suddenly, then. It took many, many years for all those saints that had a true revelation to die off. Then on this side of the Dark Ages, when God began to restore to the church the revelation of His oneness, those one God people still failed to see that Jesus was not God in the flesh until after He was baptized by John at the age of about thirty years, and the Spirit of the Father descended upon Him, and abode with Him. It was when the great eternal Spirit came down and incarnated Him, that Jesus in fulfilled reality became God with us (Emmanuel.) You can turn right over to chapter 9, verse 6, and see the same thing again. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” He was given the name JESUS as a little new born baby, and that name encompassed everything that is found in that prophecy, for JESUS is the redemption name of the eternal Father. But those various titles are only applicable after the Father incarnates Him at age 30. God’s prophets were unctioned to speak such prophecies in a way that they would cover His finished objective, but every phrase of them did not become applicable at the same instant. Some of it will not apply until Jesus rules on earth in the Millennium, but it can all be recorded in one verse of scripture. Anyone can pick up a Bible and read Isaiah 9:6, and know that it is a prophecy concerning Jesus, but only those to whom God reveals it, will understand the application and complete fulfillment of it.

SHOULD EVERY CHRISTIAN BE HEALED?

Brothers and Sisters: I have to put certain things in a message like this, that you might not quite understand at first, therefore I ask you to stick with me until we get it all connected together. We have to use certain examples in an effort to help you understand that you just simply cannot grab a verse here, and a verse somewhere else, and apply them just anywhere, and any way you feel like using them. They have to be applied where they will fulfill the purpose and plan of God, and that can only be done by the leading of the Spirit. When Jesus ministered on earth, He did not have a plan of His own, for by His own testimony, He did only what the Father led Him to do. He did nothing whatsoever, to exalt Himself, yet His perfect obedience caused the Father to exalt Him. Isn’t that how it should be? If God wants us to be anything, He is well able to make us that, but we have to surrender to His will first, and that is where so many people get themselves into trouble; they are too subject to self-will. Those apostles of Christ that went everywhere preaching the gospel after they received the Holy Ghost did not have a program of their own either. They completely exemplified the Lord Jesus Christ in their ministry. That is why it could be written that the Lord worked with them confirming the word with signs and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost. God does not work with a man that is running his own religious program, except in situations where He has determined that certain ones will be judged by what they have seen and just shrugged their shoulders and let it pass. I will just say it like this, God can do anything He determines to do, to accomplish His own purpose, but those He works with in His overall plan of redemption, are those that wait to be led of Him, just like Jesus did. Let me ask you something, and I want you to think seriously about it. If you had the power and authority to heal all manner of sickness and diseases, How many of you could walk through a large crowd of sick, diseased, and crippled people, and only heal one of them? Jesus did it, and so did His disciples. Did you ever wonder why? They were doing only what the Father led them to do. It was not because they had no concern for the rest; it was absolutely because they were being led by the Holy Spirit. None of us can look at the great mass of sick and infirm people without being concerned; but let me tell you something; it is not the purpose of God for every one of them to be healed. Now please do not ask me why, for there are numerous reasons. In the case of Lazarus, God had purposed to get glory through his resurrection, therefore ten thousand prayers for his healing would not have gotten him healed. Then you have situations where people knowingly, and willingly abuse their health until they get to the place where they are seriously ill, and then many times they expect to be healed instantly, as soon as some preacher prays for them. Such a person may just have to suffer with their condition until their body gets built back up to the place where God’s natural law of healing can work, and that person may be forced to seek the help of physicians and drugs to accomplish that. Saints, I hope this is helping you to better understand some of the things that are taking place around you. Maybe by the time we get finished with this message you will understand why sometimes we get healed, and at other times we do not. That is speaking in general terms, so maybe it would be better to say it like this, Some get healed, and others do not. Sickness and disease are a part of the penalty that was imputed to all mankind when the first man, Adam, sinned. Nevertheless there are two things to be considered. First, there are the white corpuscles in our blood, that were placed there by the Creator to fight against sickness and disease. Then, there is the provision for healing in the scriptures. That is a promise of God to the believer, but does that mean that ever believer will be healed? The answer is emphatically, No. But you can be sure of this one thing, The devil cannot take your life before God’s appointed time for you to go. I always think about Elisha, (not that this has anything to do with a New Testament provision for healing, but I do want to use this to make a point.) When it came his time to go, he died of a sickness. Yet there was Elijah that only had half as many miracles to his credit as Elisha, and when it came his time to go, God sent a fiery chariot to pick him up and transport him from this world without even seeing death. Do we question God? There is also another case in the New Testament where a precious saint of God took sick and died, and was raised back to life by the power of God, when the apostle Peter prayed for her. That was a lady named Dorcas, and you will find that recorded in the 9th chapter of Acts, so do not try to tell me that every one of them who do get sick should be healed, for you cannot make those statements line up with the scriptures. I am personally convinced that God has permitted certain things in the realm of sickness and disease among His people to linger on, because somewhere there are certain things that should be said and done in a way that will fit the scriptures. There are so many people out here in the world just trying to build a program of religion off of their own ideas, and hoping that God will accept the whole thing if they can draw enough attention, and get enough people supporting it, but that will never work with God. Public opinion, and public support may move the big politicians of the world, but it will never move God. He would rather have a half dozen people following His word with a true revelation, than to have ten million of them out here running their own religious programs. God knows exactly what He is going to take up from this earth in the rapture, and I can assure you, it will not be those who are always busy building some great program, and neither will it be those who just sit down and fold their hands, and wait, it will be those that are led by Him, to do what they are doing.

DO NOT DESTROY THY WEAK BROTHER

I want at this time, to deal with two scriptures that are not associated with divine healing, but they were used by Paul and John, to show how genuine faith works in the plan of God. Knowing that everything from God is operated through faith, it is essential that we gain a proper understanding of how that kind of faith works. We need to understand, that faith is not just something to get us healed when we are in trouble physically; it is something that should mold our lives into the very image of the one who is our pattern, and that is Jesus Christ. Through faith we believe and accept the whole plan of God, that was designed to lift us up above the world of sin and unbelief, and into a realm where we can have true fellowship with the Father. It enables us to communicate with Him, and causes us to produce a true work of God. There are not many kinds of faith as some would have you believe. The same faith that brings you healing for your body will bring you every other benefit that true faith can lay hold on, but salvation for your sin sick soul should always have the preeminence over every other benefit from God. A proper balance of faith will cover every situation of the believer’s life, whether it be spiritual, physical, or our material needs. Therefore as we go to the 14th chapter of Romans, I will first read verses 22 & 23, and then we will see how they fit into a message such as this. “Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for WHATSOEVER is not of faith is sin.” Now you who are familiar with this scripture already know that Paul is dealing with the question of whether Christians should eat meat that has been offered in sacrifice to some idol. When the Gentiles received the gospel, that was a very real question in their minds, for Gentiles had always worshiped their pagan idols, and part of their worship practice was eating meat that had been offered to a certain deity, in the hope that some spiritual benefit would be derived from finding favor with that deity. But as the apostle Paul preached, and taught the plan of salvation to those people, he did his utmost to get them to see that whether they did eat meat, or whether they abstained from eating meat altogether, did not have anything at all to do with their soul’s salvation. Their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver their soul from the bondage of sin and death was not tied to what they would eat and drink. As we have already said, under the law the Jewish people who were being sanctified in the flesh to set a spiritual type, were commanded to abstain from certain meats, but that type was all consummated when Jesus Christ hung there on that old cross at Calvary. From that time on, what we eat has nothing at all to do with making us a better Christian, but as we said at the beginning, there are certain health benefits to be derived from selective eating. Of course you realize that these remarks actually cover two different situations, one as to whether Christians should eat meat that had been offered to a pagan deity, and the other concerning the clean and unclean under the Jewish law, and a person that is strong in the faith need not be concerned about either one personally. But the apostle Paul is concerned about those Christians that are still weak in the faith and do not know exactly how to handle some of these things. That is why he took the time to deal with this subject as he did. People have a tendency to judge others by their own personal feelings, that is, how they themselves feel about certain things; therefore Paul wrote, (Rom. 14:1) “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for GOD HATH RECEIVED HIM,” That should be clear enough for anyone to see. If God has received a person, who are we, that we would judge or reject that person? In verse 10, he said, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” I hope all of you realize that the judgment seat of Christ is not a judgment to determine whether a person is saved or lost; it is strictly a judgment of Christians to determine their rewards for faithfulness in what they know from the word of God. Knowing this then, Paul says, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Can you see why? If you believe a certain thing is wrong, and you go ahead and do that thing anyhow, you have sinned against your own conscience. On the other hand, a person who is strong in the faith may be able to do that same thing without even a second thought. This is a general application of the truth that is contained in these scriptures but since Paul is dealing with eating meats, notice what he says to that person that is strong in the faith. Verse 15, “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably, (or with loving concern.) Destroy him not with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” In other words, It is the new birth that gets us into the kingdom of God, and since Calvary, meats and drinks, have nothing at all to do with our salvation. Those things had their place under the Law, still pointing to the cross, but after Calvary, only physical benefits may be obtained by observing certain eating and drinking practices. All right then, If the kingdom of God is not tied to meat and drink, why should those who know that, be subject to the convictions of those who are still in doubt? Simply because the last part of verse 17 says it is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and you cannot have peace and joy when you are fussing with one another about whether it is wrong to eat pork, or any number of other things that fall into the same category. You have warfare instead of peace and joy.

ALL THINGS ARE PURE, BUT?

That Roman assembly was made up of both Jews and Gentiles; therefore it is easy to see how there could have been a verbal warfare going on concerning these things, and how it was necessary for Paul to write these words of wisdom to them. In verse 18, he says, “For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to god, and approved of men.” He is talking there, about the fellow that believes it is wrong to eat pork, but in every other way he is godly, clean, and above the reproach of men. Brother, this is the wise, reasonable teachings that were administered to the church of the living God in that first age, in order that they could have universal peace and joy, and happiness, as the gospel reached out to the Gentiles. Notice verse 19, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense.” In other words, the man who eats pork is not going to destroy God’s ability to save the soul of the man who may not understand about these things, and even though all things are pure in a salvational sense, it is a work of evil for the stronger believer to deliberately do something that offends the weaker one. So he says, “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” That brings him to the question, “Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.” Now do you think Paul meant that the stronger ones ought to completely give up everything the weaker ones disagreed with? No, he simply meant, When you are in their presence, conduct yourself with love and respect, and with concern for them, so you will not be the cause of them doing something that they really believe is wrong for them to do. Many people do certain things just because they are around other people that are doing those things, but as soon as they do, they fall under condemnation. They condemn themselves for doing it. Therefore, Happy is he that always conducts himself in a way that does not cause him to fall under such guilt and condemnation. Naturally there are two ways to look at this thing. One is, we do things we just do not feel right about doing, simply because others are doing them, and then there are those things that the poor soul just never gets settled in his mind, whether they are right or wrong, yet his fleshly desire causes him to go ahead anyhow, but as soon as he does, here comes the feelings of guilt. You simply cannot grow spiritually until you get those things settled in your mind, by a true revelation of the word of God. Everything that a Christian does should have a channel of faith running to it. In other words, You should be convinced by a true understanding, that once you have done the thing, whatever it may be, the devil will not have any room to accuse you. This comes right back around to the issue of divine healing. I hope you are able to see why I used these scriptures. I wanted you to have an example from another topic of concern, that would fit right in exactly with the topic we are dealing with. Because people read that 23rd verse “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and they apply it to other things, and rightly so, but instead of getting their faith anchored in the scriptures to eliminate such a thing, they just go through life being moved by circumstances, and then condemn themselves later. Here is one example. You have been taught that God is a healer, (and He definitely is) and that you have no need of a physician, nor of any drugs, and that if you submit yourself to either one, it proves you do not have faith. Yet you have a physical condition that no matter how much you pray for healing, nor how many times you have been anointed and prayed for, the condition gets worse, and worse. Finally the pain and misery get so severe, you have no choice but to seek the help of a physician, and as soon as you do, the devil jumps right on your back, and you feel so condemned. You feel like you have almost committed the unpardonable sin. Now let me ask you, Where did that kind of idea come from? Not from the Lutherans, not from the Baptists, nor the Methodists, but from the Pentecostals. Do you know why? They did not take the time to get down on their knees and search the Bible through to get the picture put together right. They say, God is a healer period, no buts about it, and they would condemn me for saying, Yes, but. Nevertheless, I still have to say, Yes, God is a healer; BUT He does not have to heal the way you demand Him to do it. Yes, He is a healer, BUT He does not condemn His children for seeking the comfort that a physician can offer while the healing is taking place, nor for taking something to fight infection, and so forth. I say, Let them criticize me for what I teach, all they want to, I am more concerned about poor souls that are always walking under a heavy load of guilt because of their teaching, than I am about their criticism of me. They may say, Damn the doctors, Damn the hospitals, and Damn their medicine; all they are after is your money, but I will just have to say, I have known the preachers that were just as bad. They preached faith for everything, and behind the scenes, they were worse than the Mafia ever thought of being, as they maneuvered their monetary programs. Besides working every angle behind the scene, they come out and preach a dogmatic message on faith for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then spend an hour to an hour and a half begging for money to support their, “work for the Lord.” They preach faith to the congregation, and they themselves are beggars. They tell you how much faith they have, but how much faith does such a preacher have? Think about that. If his ministry is a true, God ordained ministry, why will God not support it? Learn the truth about this kind of preaching, and learn the truth about divine healing, and about other things also, that have nothing at all to do with your salvation. Then when you read, “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth,” it will mean something to you. If that scripture had an application in Paul’s day, concerning a proper understanding of the word of God, and the will of God, it has just as much today. Instead of preaching condemnation all the time: Why do these preachers not preach on Romans 8, especially verses 1 & 9? There has to be some place for these scriptures to fit into the life of every true believer. Instead of preaching that you are saved today, and lost tomorrow because of some disobedience to their little doctrine: Why do they not preach on Romans 8:29 & 30? I will tell you why. They have no revelation of it themselves. Besides that, even if they ever did get a true revelation and begin to preach it, it would tear their program of religion all to pieces, so most of them do not even want to listen to the truth.

GOD IS LOVE

Brothers and sisters: I hope you realize that it is not my purpose to take from anyone anything that the Lord has ever done for them. I realize that God has moved upon the lives of a lot of people while they were still out there in those denominational churches, and I also realize that a lot of them that separated themselves from those systems after receiving a supernatural experience from God, failed to hear the word of God taught properly because they wound up in something else that was just as far from revealed truth as what they came out of. That is why so many of them end up with what we could rightly call a disease of the mind. No, I am not talking about an insane person; we are giving this a spiritual application. That is the state of a person that just never quite gets to the place spiritually where they can function without guilt and feelings of condemnation. They are always afraid they have missed God somehow. Let us just open our Bibles to 1st John 4:17, and look at something that is just exactly opposite to these feelings of condemnation. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.” That word herein, means, by this, or through this, is our love made perfect (or complete.) Then we will have boldness when? In the day of judgment. What judgment is that? The judgment seat of Christ, of course. That is the only judgment a child of God will have to stand in. But tell me, Do you think a person that goes through life always confused and in doubt about the will of God for their life will be able to stand before the judgment seat of Christ with boldness? You know they cannot. That is why we need to get ourselves settled as to what God is after in our lives, and submit to it. Then we will be able to stand before Him with boldness. Not arrogantly, but with confidence. We will be able to stand there with confidence, if we have not lived our life on earth in doubt and fear, always wondering if we have done the right thing. Now we probably ought to read verse 16, to get the love connection in its proper place here, for it says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” John has been called the apostle of love. Therefore because he had a burden to write expressing the love wherewith God loved us, he used terminology like, God is love. But God is also Truth, Righteousness, Spirit, Word, and all of a long list we could mention. But here John is showing how those who are truly born of the Spirit of God actually dwell in love, and love dwells in them because of that new nature, when they once get it settled and allow God to order their lives according to His will. Now let us again. “Because as He is, so are we in this world.” Now take a good long look at the Son of God, how He lived, and how He preached. Do you see a man that was always in doubt about what He was doing, or do you see a man that was never in doubt about anything that He ever did? Everything He did, He did it with the complete assurance that He was carrying out the will of the Father. Now will you agree with me, that God is seeking to mold us into the image and likeness of that perfect Son? Jesus is not just a scapegoat, whereby we just lay all our weaknesses on Him, and never really benefit by it, as far as any spiritual growth. No. Every time we take something to Him, and lay it on Him, it should lift us up to be a little more like Him, and because of that, we are brought into the understanding that as He is, so are we in this world. God forbid, that His children should walk through this life always in doubt, never having any answers from the precious word of God. The church world at large walks like that, because they are all full of unbelief, but born again children of God are to be renewed in the spirit of their mind, and as Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” As we take on the mind of Christ, we realize that all things are possible to him that believeth in God, but we also realize that all things are to serve a purpose of God, so we do not concentrate all our efforts on just trying to please ourselves. The more we think like Jesus, the more we will try to please the Father by allowing Him to direct our ways.

GETTING ANSWERS FROM GOD’S WORD

Now verse 18, has to be considered in the light of this boldness, or confidence, or assurance that we have because we seek to please the Father. It says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment.” This word love, is not to be associated with human love; it has to be a word that describes the true love of God. He first plants that love in us, and then He works in our lives to increase that love, so that it becomes more the love of God, and less that of human love. Jesus, in the world, being the very fountain of God’s love, saw man through the eyes of the Father, therefore He could look at the critics and say, “Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?” Calling that kind, exactly what they were. But when He hung there on that old cross He could look at that mass of humanity milling around and say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That was the love of the Father being expressed through Him. That is the love that caused Him to walk in the midst of humanity with the assurance, confidence, and boldness of a man that did not have to go to Calvary in doubt, wondering whether He had done the right thing or not. He knew He had done the will of the Father; therefore He could say, “It is finished.” In other words, He knew He had done everything He was supposed to do. That is why we are to seek to be like Him, so we also may have that kind of boldness, for as long as we are full of doubt, we have fear, and fear is a tormenting thing. “He that feareth is not made perfect in love,” or in the realm of love. As long as we have fear we are lacking something in our spiritual growth, and the only remedy for it is to find out what the will of God is for our lives, and walk accordingly. This is the very reason I used the scripture, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” for it applies to every area of life where there is doubt and fear, and not just to eating, or not eating pork. It is just like I have already mentioned about how I just automatically assumed that doctors, medicine, and hospitals were only for unbelievers, when I first began to witness the supernatural power of God in divine healing as Bro. Branham prayed for the sick. As long as you believe like that, every time you have to take a member of your family to the doctor for something, you have that old tormenting feeling that comes to you through the avenue of doubt and fear. Now, going to the doctor is not sin on your part. But going to the doctor believing that it is wrong for you to do it, makes it sin to you. That is why I had to get the question settled in my mind once and for all, and I knew that my answers had to come from the pages of God’s holy word, and little by little they did. Once of the first things I began to see, was how Isaiah told one of the servants to take a poultice of figs and lay it on King Hezekiah’s boil. I said, “Right there is one answer.” Then I remembered reading how Paul wrote Timothy, telling him to drink no longer water only, but to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake, and his often infirmities, and I thought, “There is another answer,” for these are men of God. Brothers and sisters: You do not have to go through life doubting about such things, for the answer is in the word of God, and if you get serious enough about finding it, you will. Isaiah was not leaning upon the arm of flesh when he told the servant to take a lump of figs, and lay it on that boil, and neither was Paul, when he wrote that to Timothy. They knew God was the only healer they could look to, but they also knew how to exercise a little common sense, and sound judgment, without feeling any guilt, or being afraid they missed God.

FOREORDAINED FOR GOD’S GLORY

We have one Brother here in the church that lay in the hospital some years ago, with twenty eight broken bones as a result of an accident. Even the doctors had to confess that there was little they could do, for many of the little slivers of bone were so small there was no way for them to fasten them together. Since hearing his testimony, I have wondered many times what some of these divine healing preachers would have told him to do. Would they just told him, Now you will just have to believe God for your healing, and then leave him lying there in the ditch, or take him home and let him lie on the floor and wait upon the Lord? Is that the way you preach the healing benefits that were wrought at Calvary? I hardly think that is what God had in mind, when He had Isaiah write concerning Christ, “By whose stripes ye are healed.” No. That Brother was taken to the hospital, and the physicians and hospital personnel did what they could to comfort him, and they x-rayed him every day to make sure those little bone slivers did not work around and puncture and vital organ, but they all knew they were helpless to heal him. Then after a period of time, the Lord answered the Brother’s cry and healed him just as suddenly as he got messed up. But we know some will say, God would have done that the first day, if he would have just believed, and I will just have to answer them with the account of Lazarus, in the 11th chapter of John’s gospel. Jesus could have prevented him from dying, but God had already ordained this occasion whereby He would be glorified in raising Lazarus from the dead, therefore anyone trying to believe God for his healing would have just been believing in vain, for he was not going to be healed; he was going to die, and then be raised back to life. Jesus said it was all for the glory of God, and that is what I say about this Brother that had all those little broken bones; God was sanctifying a testimony of His power to heal by a divine act, but He did not expect the man to lie there in the ditch waiting for Him to heal him. No. He wanted all those doctors and nurses to witness this mighty deed. There are times when God has purposed to let certain situations get to the point where medical science has to admit that they have done all they can do, before He steps in to correct the problem, and everything that was done prior to His intervention was all a part of His foreordained plan. You cannot choose the time and place and the manner in which God must operate; you just have to trust Him, and do what you can to find comfort until your healing is manifested, either by a divine act, or by God’s natural law of healing, which ever He has purposed to be glorified in. When He raised Lazarus from the dead, He could also have loosed him from all of that embalming wrappings and let him walk out of the tomb, but did He? No; He let him float out, still wrapped up like a mummy. That way, there was no doubt about what had taken place. The critics could not say he was not dead, for they were allowed the witness the whole thing. Did that make believers out of all of them? Not as far as any salvational benefit; but they did have to admit that they had seen a man raised from the dead, and a large number of them did believe. From them, God received glory, and all the rest were left to give account of their hypocritical deeds when they stand before God in the judgment. He left them without excuse. Those hypocrites even tried to kill Lazarus, so they would be rid of that living testimony, but God had already accomplished His purpose in it all. Even if they had been able to get Lazarus out of the way, they could never have cancelled out that testimony. All those who did believe, were spreading it far and wide, and others were coming to see this Jesus that had done this great miracle. Now Brothers and Sisters: I know you can all appreciate, and rejoice in this wonderful thing the Lord did for Lazarus, but I wonder just how many of you can rejoice just as much over the fact that God ordained this whole episode for His own glory, and that His only begotten Son should be glorified also? That is what Jesus said, when Mary and Martha sent word to Him that their brother was sick. (John 11:4) “When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” If any of you think there is a contradiction there, you just have to realize that Jesus was referring to that final state of death that all must face if time tarries past their allotted days. Lazarus truly did die, but Jesus knew that his death this time, was only for a short time. That is why He could refer to it as sleeping, in verse 11. Naturally we know that this same terminology is applied to death in other places in the Bible, but not with the same deliberate usage that Jesus used it here.

JESUS FACING APOSTATE JEWS

Let us go into the book of Mark now, where we will see Jesus in the early days of His ministry, as various instances had began to draw attention to Him. Israel had been through 400 years of spiritual apostasy, and even though those Scribes and Pharisees were very religious, they were not very spiritual. Their religion was just legalistic, a ritual they went through, and forced upon others, and they did not like to have anyone coming along, that would upset their applecart. Unbelief was so predominant, it caused Jesus many times, to look at certain of them and say, “Oh ye of little faith.” He even said it to His disciples when they got scared and awakened Him because of a storm that was tossing their boat around. When they ran back there to Him and said, “Master: Carest thou not that we perish?” The first thing He said to them was, “Oh ye of little faith.” What a contrast. Here was a man of perfect faith, walking among men that had lost all touch with the supernatural God of their Fathers. Besides that, they were so hard hearted they would kill anyone that showed them up for what they were. Notice verse 1, of chapter 3, and you will see what He was up against. “And He entered again in to the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched Him, (Who watched Him? Was it the drunks, the gamblers, the prostitutes, and such like? No, it was the religious people of that day that were watching Him.) Whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him.” Those pious religious leaders could not have cared less about the poor man that needed to be healed; all they cared about was that their own image be protected. In their own eyes, they were the great men of God, and they felt like if God ever did anything, He would have to go through them to do it. That is the same old spirit that has been on your denominational churches ever since God began to stir the fire of Pentecost in some hungry souls in this twentieth century. Their unbelieving hearts are so crusted, they publicly denounce, and challenge what God is doing for and through some others who did not graduate from their great schools of theology. They do not hesitate to proclaim that God does not do signs and wonders among His people anymore. That was only for the days of the original apostles, to get the church started. Well I have news for them, God has not changed one bit since those days; it is man that has changed, that those Scribes and Pharisees were hardened in their hearts, and had lost all reality of God’s supernatural power. It was because their religious programs had crowded God out of the picture. They did not leave Him any room to do anything for them, and it is the same way in your big name churches today. They have their services planned to the minutest detail, and their programs printed up way in advance. They know who is going to pray, what songs are going to be sung, what the sermon will be, and in what order it will be done, and how long it will take, and they do not allow God any space in their program. That is why they do not recognize Him when they are made aware of Him doing something for some little hungry soul some place. In other words, the same spirit that caused those Scribes and Pharisees to say, after they had witnessed the power of God in operation, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils, also causes many of those great Doctors and Professors of theology to react the same way. Those Jews stood there watching Jesus, just to see if He was going to heal that man on the Sabbath day. In other words, He must have been doing this sort of thing already, for them to be there like that, and He was not going to let them interfere with something the Father was leading Him to do, so He just looked at the man which had the withered hand, and said, “Stand forth.” Then He said to His critics, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?” But they held their peace at that time. It just goes to show, that when such characters as these meet wisdom face to face, they have to keep their mouth shut, lest they suffer defeat by their own words. “And when He (Jesus) had looked around about on them with anger, (I can just see His eyes blazing with fire as He looked at that unbelieving bunch of hypocrites, and knew that they were there only to find fault) being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” Now watch these Pharisees, the holiest of all religious people in that time, what extreme lengths they went to, trying to destroy Jesus. Verse 6, “And the Pharisees went forth and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might DESTROY Him.” The Herodians were that bunch of backslidden political Jews, that had sold out to Herod, and were ready to carry out every diabolical plot he came up with. They were Jews by birth, but beyond that they were just a bunch of politicians; and this bunch of holy Pharisees went to them for help in getting rid of this fellow that was out there healing people on that Sabbath day. Isn’t that a perfect picture of world religion today? Don’t let anyone break our church creed, even if you have to kill him to stop him. Jesus broke the Sabbath according to their tradition, so they were ready to kill Him for it. Verse 7, “But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea: (The sea of Galilee) and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judaea, (That is both areas of Israel) and from Jerusalem, (religious headquarters) and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, (all the way from southern Lebanon) a great multitude, when they had heard what great things He did, came unto Him.” This lets us know that He had already been ministering long enough for the word to be spread around about the great miracles He performed. “And He spake to His disciples, that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him. For He had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had plagues.” He did not want to be so crowded, that He could not see how to minister to the people, so He boarded a little boat. Notice verse 11, how these demons know exactly who He is. “And unclean spiritus, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.” His ministry had already grown to a proportion where it was not so much Him touching the people any more; like at first when He would just touch an individual here and there. Now the multitudes are pressing in upon Him, and the power of God is causing them to make every effort to touch Him. Even those who were demon possessed were not sought out by Jesus; God the great eternal Spirit moved upon them, and caused them to fall at the feet of Jesus, as the multitudes gathered around Him. But, Saints: You must see here, that no one is following a program, nor ritual; the Spirit of the Father is directing the whole thing. Those poor souls which were demon possessed did not make any certain plans about going to Jesus; they were just moved by the power of God to fall at the feet of Jesus, and they would just lay there shaking under the power of Satan, until the power of God delivered them. Another thing I would have you notice is recorded there in verse 12. “And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known.” Jesus was not seeking recognition for what was being done. He was not prone to go around saying, “I am the Son of God. It was others that called Him that. You will find Jesus referring to Himself as the Son of man most of the time. When He went in to the country of Gergesenes, two demon possessed men met Him, and what happened? Did He have to say, I am the Son of God, I will set you free? Absolutely not; those demons knew exactly who He was, and taking control of their vocal cords, those demons spoke right out of the mouth of those that were possessed saying, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” They knew who He was, and they knew what they had coming to them, so they begged Him to let them go into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently down the mountainside, and into the sea where they all perished. That upset the people of that region so much, they asked Jesus to leave their coasts, and He did exactly that. But my point is, It was the demons that identified Him as the Son of God. Just prior to that, a certain man had come to Him saying, “Master, I will follow thee withersoever thou goest,” and Jesus answered him saying, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the SON OF MAN hath not where to lay His head.”

THE SON OF MAN

When Jesus left the coasts of the Gergesenes, and came back to His own city, a man sick of the palsy was brought to Him on a bed, and the Bible says that when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the palsied man, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” The Scribes thought, but did not speak of it, “This man blasphemeth.” Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whither is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the SON OF MAN hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said He to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house.” When the multitude saw that the man was healed, they marveled and GLORIFIED GOD, which had given such power unto men. He identified Himself even in this touchy situation, only as the Son of man, and you will notice that the witnesses standing by, glorified God when the man was healed. That is why I keep reminding you, that everything that is done by the power of the supernatural should always be turned to glorify God. Man has no right to rob God of His glory by puffing himself up to be something special. Without God, man could do nothing. In the 16th chapter of Matthew, Jesus asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I the SON OF MAN am?” They mentioned various one’s and then He asked them straight out, “But whom say ye that I am?” In other words, you have told me what others are saying; now tell me what you personally believe. Simon Peter spoke right out, “Thou are the Christ, the SON OF THE LIVING GOD.” He never denied being the Son of God, but ninety nine times out of a hundred, He referred to Himself as the Son of man, and left it up to those who received a revelation of His deity to proclaim that He was the Son of God. He did not want recognition except what the Father directed upon Him. That is why Paul wrote to the Philippians (2:7) that He made Himself of no reputation, but rather took upon Himself the form of a servant. He never did run a big newspaper ad announcing that He was going to have a big healing crusade; He just simply did what the Father led Him to do, and the crowd was always present with their various needs, ready to be healed. Brothers and Sisters: When you are doing only what the Father leads you to do, you never have to hang your head, and leave town as a failure. A lot of these modern day Pentecostal preachers run their big ads promising signs and wonders of every sort, and then they blame the people who come expecting to receive something from God, and say the reason they do not receive is because of their lack of faith. They never even consider the fact that their promises may have overstepped the purpose of God. That is why I have said, If Jesus was walking on earth today, He would drive some of these preachers up a wall, for they would never know whether they could depend on Him to keep an appointment they made for Him or not. He would just as likely pop up somewhere else, other than where they wanted Him to be. In all of His 3 ½ years of ministering on earth, no one ever knew ahead of time where He was going to be. That in itself ought to tell us something. He expects us to follow Him, rather than us running on ahead, and Him trying to keep up with us. Now this may not be the way you would have expressed that, but I believe you get the point. They never knew when He was coming to their town; they just had to be ready when He came along.

THE PERFECTING AGE

Now lest you get off on the wrong track with what I am saying, I feel that I must keep going back and reminding you that Pentecost in the early years of this century was truly a move of God, regardless of what carnal men have done with it. The supernatural gifts of the Holy Ghost had to be restored back to the end time church of the living God. Whatever she started out with, she must end up with. Pentecost was a move of the Spirit whereby God put emphasis upon the display of the supernatural after the church was once again walking in the light of His word. They did not have the light that we have today; but they were no longer in the Dark Ages. I will have to say also, that all during the Reformation there were times when various ones experienced a supernatural move of God. But there was never anything to compare with what happened in the early years of this century, when God sovereignly began to pour out His Spirit upon hungry souls that were walking in all the light they had. The Reformation was taken up mostly with the restoration of major doctrines, to the church, instead of a display of the gifts of the Spirit, but coming into the twentieth century, it seems like God just opened up the fountains of heaven, and let the supernatural have the preeminence for a time. Since then, many books have been written, of what God did during those early years of the Pentecostal revival, but as I read some of them, I can see that even though they may have meant well, a lot of their efforts were invested in trying to stimulate faith for the supernatural, instead of just reporting what happened. They emphasize faith for healing, faith for deliverance, faith for this, faith for that, when all the time God’s objective is not to have the bride church majoring on the supernatural, but to get the supernatural back into the church as it was in the beginning, and not necessarily to the same proportion of display, for in the early church, people were drawn to the gospel many times through a miracle of some kind, and in the end it will be for the benefit of the people of God, without a great display to the world. In other words, This is the age of setting things of God in perfect order, rather than drawing multitudes to hear the gospel. It is all a perfect plan of a perfect God, to perfect a people for His precious name. I believe you can see why it was necessary for God to restore the gifts of the Spirit to the church, before He sent a messenger with a message that would turn the church world upside down, and start true believers on the road to perfection. This end time church is to have an understanding of every doctrine, and every precept of the New Testament, so they can be brought back into a true fellowship with God. That will only be accomplished through the light of His word shining deep within our soul, and only to His true people. He wants to administer all of the benefits that were activated at Calvary. That in no way rules out the fact that many things are taking place among the ranks of those who preach the supernatural, and discard everything that pertains to the doctrine of Christ, but all of it is accomplishing a purpose in the plan of God. For Matthew 13:30, lets us know that God has instructed the reapers to first gather the tares and bind them together in bundles to be burned. Therefore I ask you, How do you suppose this is being done? These tare bundlers are preachers that preach enough of the Bible to be called a preacher, but never enough to feed the hungry soul of a predestined seed of God; therefore those who love to rally around the preacher, and his message, and have no love for the truth of God’s complete word, are being tied together, and their hour for burning will be when God says, It is time. I know some of you get uncomfortable when you hear these things, because you have loved ones that are right out there in al of that, but nevertheless God’s word will stand true, no matter whose family members are guilty of casting truth aside, to follow some man’s teaching, or a denominational church covenant. Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians 2:11, that God Himself would send them strong delusion; that they should believe Satan’s lie, and be damned. Naturally I am not going to try to identify every one of these that fall into that category; the Lord will take care of that in His time, but I will tell you this by the authority of the word of God, There are not a half dozen ways to choose between, when it comes to being born again. There is only one way, and the formula can be found in Acts 2:38, and the only one’s that will ever reach that place in God, are those which were foreknown of Him from before the foundation of the world. Others go through the necessary formalities, if I may refer to it like that, but because they never really receive a love for the truth, they never reach the fullness of the new birth experience. They will jump, and shout, and cry along with everyone else in the presence of the anointing, but sooner or later, something will take them off on a wild goose chase, and eventually they will be tied up together with others like them, and they will not even know that they have already been bundled up for burning. Does this sound hard hearted to you? I am only telling you what is written in the book, and I had nothing whatsoever to do with writing it. Knowing these things though, lets me know also, that many true children of God are in for a good whipping from the Lord, because they have allowed themselves to be swayed by various circumstances to the point where they flirted around with, and courted the same sign seeking spirit that has caused the multitudes to follow the signs, and toss true doctrine into the ditch. It lets me know also, that when a man will only stand and preach divine healing, never touching the essential theme and objective of the atonement wrought at Calvary, he has missed the whole redemption program. Furthermore because he is using God’s supernatural power to draw attention to himself, the day will come when the Lord will say to him, Depart from me, you worker of iniquity; I never knew you. If you think that is not the truth, just open your Bible to Matthew 7:21-23, and read it for yourself.

YOU MUST SEE THE SON OF GOD

Let me just take a minute here, and try to show you why many men who have enjoyed what seemed to be a successful ministry along the lines of divine healing and the gifts of the Spirit, will in the end be rejected of God. Bro. Jackson: Are you trying to tell me that God would use a man in a ministry like that, and then cast him into hell? How can God use a man who is not a true servant of His? The answer to that is very simple. God will stand behind His word, and reward genuine faith, no matter who preached His word, nor what their motive for preaching may be. Some preach, more to make a name for themselves than for any spiritual benefit to anyone. Others have found that people who follow the signs are very generous with their offerings, and they preach because of their greedy lust for wealth, and the things that money can buy for them, and some preach out of a human concern for people in need, but they have not been called of God to handle His word, so they still come short of fulfilling a true ministry of the living God. Regardless of their motives though, they are able to stimulate faith in many people to lay hold on a provision of the scriptures, and God will heal them, or even answer their prayers for other things, but they are left void and destitute of being able to go any further in the truth of God’s word. That is why, when they are taught that God is three persons, they could not care less, for they have no revelational insight. They are made to believe that nothing else matters, just as long as they believe in Jesus, but that is only a half truth. God does not expect anyone to be a full grown Christian as soon as they believe in Jesus as their only way of salvation, but believing in Jesus is more than just a mental concept of what can be read from the Bible. If you are not believing in Him according to a true revelation that actually causes you to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, to be like Him, you are not believing on Him according to the scriptures. Therefore I say, If God permitted people in this age, just to believe anything they choose to, and then in the end He accepted all of them, He would have to raise up that early church from the dead, and apologize to them. For many of them were martyred, simply because they had a revelation of God’s one true way of salvation, and they would not compromise that revealed truth, even to save their lives. Out here in the realm of religion, there are those that identify themselves as Full Gospel believers, yet they believe in the trinity, and they refuse to preach doctrine, claiming that doctrines divide the body of Christ. That is just another half truth. True Bible doctrine does divide, not the body of Christ among themselves, but it will divide, or separate the true body of Christ from those apostate, Antichrist systems of religion, and those who call themselves Full Gospel, and still believe in a holy trinity as no exception. That is why Matthew 7:21-23, will one day be a reality. Just listen while I read it to you. This is the words of Jesus Christ Himself. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? (Some of those that enjoyed the loaves and fishes, asked Jesus one day, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered them saying, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” Then farther on down in that same chapter, John 6:40, we read these words, “And this is the will of Him that sent me, that ever one which SEETH the SON, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Now tell me saints, If Jesus meant what He said here, and we know He did, How in the world could all these who believe that Jesus is the 2nd person of a holy trinity have everlasting life? First one must see Him, and of course that pertains to seeing Him through a true revelation of the Godhead, and believing on Him according to that revelation, then comes the desired benefit, eternal life, and without that, no man can work a true work of God.) “And then will I profess unto them, (we are back in Matthew 7:23) I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Brothers and Sisters, we are taking this slow, and using all these various examples, because of the importance of making a revelated application of the scriptures. People are dying every day, and others are suffering terrible pain and anguish of soul, because of a careless, fanatical application of some scripture, used out of its original context. Some of you may feel that we are making too much out of this, but let me ask you this, Do you read the newspapers? Do you catch the news broadcasts on television? Do you have loved ones that are involved in one of these fanatical cults? Have you forgotten the incident where over 900 people were poisoned as a result of following something that started out under the disguise of certain misapplied scriptures? Do you believe that going to the doctor, or taking a dose of medicine is a sin against God? Maybe some of you have no concern along these lines, but there are a lot of precious God loving, God fearing saints that do have problems along these lines, and we want them to have all the help that the word of God can give them. As I said already, I know first hand how we many times we suffer needlessly, simply because we are taught wrong, or because we just assume certain things are to be a certain way. If I could have read a message like this when I first came out of the Methodist church, I never would have had to fight those battles in my mind, whether to take one of my children to the doctor when it was burning up with a fever, or not. I just simply assumed, that if we were to be restored to the apostolic gospel of Christ, we would have to depend upon the supernatural power of God for all our healing. Seeing such a display of the power of God in the ministry of Bro. Branham, just caused me to assume that it had to be like that sooner or later. It was when we had to give in and take the little children to the doctor, and sit there in the doctors office feeling like we were sinning, and yet in just a few short hours the medicine would have the situation under control, that I was driven to the scriptures, determined to find the will of God on this subject of divine healing. I thank God, that He allowed me to stay free from the teaching of a lot of Pentecostal preachers I heard during those years back in the 1950’s. They all had their version of how a person ought to live, and their version of how divine healing should be applied to our everyday life, and I am here to tell you, a person that tried to regulate their life by what we were hearing, had to end up in utter confusion, and God knows how I hate confusion. I just simply cannot remain in the presence of it. I have to get away. The devil loves confusion, and he will do everything possible to create it, but I am persuaded that God expects His true children to get free from it at their earliest opportunity.

PERSONAL TESTIMONIES

I have another personal testimony that I want to share with you for the glory of God, and to let you know even better, why I teach divine healing the way I do. This is how God has dealt with me, to keep me free from regular Pentecostal persuasions. In the year that our third daughter Naomi, was born, an elderly sister in the church, that God had used in the ministry of prophecy at various times, came to me and said, Bro. Jackson: I feel like the Lord may want to name the little baby when the time comes. I feel like if this is true, I will hear from Him by the time the little one is born, so you call me before you name the child. The little baby arrived on the scene in July 1955, so I went downstairs to the telephone, and called the Sister to tell her the news, and find out if she had anything from the Lord about naming the baby. When I told her the little baby had arrived she said, What is it? I said, It is a little girl. She replied, I already knew it would be, and I already have a name for her. Then she told me that it was given to her in a prophecy, and that she was to be called Naomi Ruth, and that I would know this was the truth because of a little birthmark that I would find on the back of her shoulder, and she described to me what it would look like. I thanked her, and then she said, There is more to the prophecy, but this is enough to let you know what to name her, if you accept this as being of the Lord. I went right back up th where the babies were, and the nurse had just finished bathing her, and she was turning her over on her face, getting ready to lay her in one of the little baskets, and when she turned her, I saw the little birthmark, and it was exactly as the prophecy had said it would be. I was not able to get the rest of the prophecy until our next church service, but that little birthmark was all I needed to see at that time, and by the time I returned to my wife’s room, the nurses were already asking, What are you gong to name the baby? Of course we named her Naomi Ruth, and that little birthmark stayed there for several months and then began to disappear, and finally, all we could see was just a little trace of it under the skin. But when I saw it there, I knew the prophecy was from God, and that settled it. When I finally did get to read the rest of the prophecy, it was in poetic form, and went something like this, Though thou hast sought my face for a son, yet not thy will, but mine be done. It went ahead and stipulated some other things, and then told how that in the end, I will visit thee again. I will pluck the seed and plant it, and thou shalt have a son, and David will be his name. That was right at the end, after telling me how I would go through a season whereby I would be tried and tested. Now Brothers and Sisters: I want to say this for the sake of every criticizing preacher that will ever hear or read this testimony. After my wife became expectant with our fourth child Lois, the one that the doctor said was a tubal pregnancy, I was stricken with a condition that put me completely to bed. As I have already said, I am so thankful for the sovereign way God dealt with our lives on those days, for we could have just as easily, had our minds crammed full of Pentecostal preachers’ junk. Yes, that is exactly what a lot of it amounts to, just man-made junk. I have already told you how we rushed my wife to the hospital emergency room, and how the doctor diagnosed her situation as tubal pregnancy, and told us how serious it could be, and how discouraged I became because of it. I told you also, how God intervened in that situation, and enabled my wife to go on back home with me, in about three hours time, and she carried the baby without any more trouble. Naturally because of the prophecy that came when Naomi was born, we were expecting this one to be the son that was promised, whose name was to be David. But just about two months later, after the emergency room ordeal, I was stricken with a condition (Som of you will remember it) that put me to bed, and started me through a time of testing that I will never forget.

GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

I awakened one night in October (1956) with a high fever, and chills, so terribly sick. The doctor was called, (back then, they would make a house call if need be) and when he came, and finished checking me out, he said Raymond: You are in for a long siege with this thing. Besides that, you will never be able to father any more children. Naturally in my mind, I began reasoning, Well we already have three girls, and our promised son is on the way, so we will just rest with that. Then the doctor said, Raymond: You are going to suffer a lot of pain, so I am going to leave you something that will help take the edge off, and help you bear it. He left me a bottle of pills, but Praise God, I never did have to take even that first one of them. I never suffered any pain at all. Those pills sat around there a long time, and were finally discarded. While he was there, the doctor gave me a shot of penicillin, and that is when I discovered that I was allergic to it. He was called back out to the house, when I started vomiting, and that is when he said, Raymond: You are allergic to penicillin. That was the end of penicillin for me. But other than being confined to my bed, I went through that ordeal without pain, and without medicine. Even the length of my sickness was cut short by the great hand of God, that intervened to work it all out. (I tell this for the glory of God; I had nothing to do with it.) A brother here in the church, related to my wife, brought Bro. Branham down one night. Now let me say this, Bro. Branham was not like a lot of these Pentecostal preachers, that come in and stand over your bed saying, Do you believe God can heal you? Do you believe He will do it? No, they sat there for quite a while, just talking, and fellowshipping and when they were getting ready to leave, standing there beside my bed, Bro. Branham just reached over and took my hand, and said, Bro. Junie: Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right. Somewhere, and somehow, this is all for the glory of God. Now brother, it takes a real man of God to say a thing like that, right in the midst of what I was going through. You will know why I say that, when I tall you this. In April 1957, when my wife gave birth to the little baby, it was not the son we were expecting, it was another little girl, our fourth daughter Lois. Brothers and Sisters: You can never even imagine what went through my mind, when I heard that. All during that illness, I held on to the prophecy promising me a son, and believing all the time that my wife was carrying that son, knowing only that the doctor had told me I would never be able to father another child, and just comforting myself with the conclusion that, If this be the will of God, then so be it. But when I learned that the little baby was not that son, it put my head in a spin. I had to wait nine long years for that son, and I could never even begin to describe to you my thoughts during that time. (What would you have thought, if you had been in my place?) I finally got to the place where I began to feel like there was nothing to the prophecy concerning a son. I was looking at my physical capabilities, or rather my incapability, and allowing doubt to take over my thoughts. But the very year the horse dream went into effect, my wife became expectant with another child, and in April 1966, the little boy arrived. Not because of my faith, but because God had promised him to us God is the faithful one. He never forgets a promise. Of course I realize that many preachers will criticize me for this, but that is just the way God worked with us during those early years after we left the Methodist Church. He is the one that kept us from following the general line of Pentecostal belief at that time in our lives, for all of this was new to us. We had never experienced, nor even hardly heard about people going through a prayer line and being healed, or slain in the Spirit, where you would just lie on the floor unable to get up, until the power of God released you. All I can say is, God just simply did not want me to get mixed up in all of that, for I very easily could have been, if He had not worked circumstance in our lives to prevent it. I can look back now, and see why, for the way they teach divine healing out there, is not the way it really is at all. But I have to admit, I walked through certain conditions during those years, where I was really tried and tested, and if I would have submitted my mind to what certain Pentecostal preachers tried to shove off on me, I would have ended up in utter confusion myself. I just have to thank God for leading us in a way that prevented it, and realize that He had a purpose for dealing with us as He did, and also realize that it is not the purpose of God for me to teach my personal experience as a universal doctrine for the bride of Christ to follow. Therefore I give you these testimonies, not to establish doctrine, but simply to show you that God is not bound by man’s ideas about how certain things have to work.

LET GOD BE GOD

God is sovereign, and divine healing is a reality, but are we to take a dogmatic stand and try to force God to work the way we want Him to, or will we determine in our own mind, that we are going to follow truth, and let God work in our lives in a way that He will receive glory from it? The day we try to establish a fixed rule as to how the grace and mercy of God may be applied, we shut God out of the picture, for He will not work where His hands are tied. I am not saying He will not help anyone under circumstances like that, I am only saying that He cannot be forced to honor your pet doctrines. God may sovereignly deal with an individual that has suffered a lot of things in his, or her physical flesh, and make that person know that they will never need to go to a doctor again, nor take a pill again, but that is not for the purpose of establishing any kind of doctrine for the universal church; it is simply for a testimony in that person’s own life, and that person will never need a doctor, nor a pill again. Just be sure that God is the one that tells you that though, or we may be reading about you in the newspapers, as we have others who listened to the wrong voice. God can deal with your life either way, without going against His word, when it comes to the question of divine healing. He can either be glorified by keeping you well, and never letting you get sick, or by letting you get sick, and then healing you, and He can heal you with, or without the help of doctors and medicine. Which ever choice He has made cannot be altered by your stubbornness though, for if it is His purpose to testify to a bunch of doctors and nurses, and you refuse to go to the doctor, you are not in His will, you are resisting His will. Then when your stubbornness about your doctrine of healing gets you dragged into a courtroom, where carnal minded judges and juries have to take control of the situation, Where is God’s glory? I am not making personal attacks; I am only dealing with reality. God expects His true children to grow up a little along the way, and you cannot grow spiritually when you are bound hand and foot with a manmade doctrine. Neither do you glorify God when you can just barely drag yourself around, and you refuse to accept available help by saying, I don’t believe in going to the doctor; I believe we are supposed to trust God for our healing. Of course we are supposed to trust God for our healing; but where do you get the scripture that forbids God’s children to see a doctor? Saints, I hope you are listening to me, for we are living in a serious time. Satan is doing everything he possibly can, to bring reproach upon God’s true church, and any time you hold on to something you picked up out there in spiritual Babylon, you are contributing to his cause. Don’t allow yourself to do that.

Brothers and Sisters: We had hoped to get all of this in two issues of the Contender, but there are yet some things I want to deal with, in an effort to tie up all loose ends of this very controversial subject, so look for the conclusion in our January 1984 issue, if the Lord allows us that much more time. Until then, may His great wisdom guide us in our daily lives as we approach this new year of uncertainty.

REALIZING THAT THERE IS MUCH CONTROVERSY AMONG THE VARIOUS DIVISIONS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ON THE SUBJECT OF DIVINE HEALING, AND REALIZING ALSO THAT THERE IS A BIBLE ANSWER THAT SHOULD SETTLE THE MINDS OF EVERY TRUE BELIEVER, I FEEL COMPELLED TO DEAL WITH THE SUBJECT, USING ALL THE FAMILIAR SCRIPTURES, AND SOME OTHERS THAT ARE SELDOM CONSIDERED, AND I PRAY THAT IN DOING SO, WE CAN ESTABLISH ONCE AND FOR ALL WHAT DIVINE HEALING IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT. MOST OF THOSE WHO PREACH ON THIS SUBJECT, HAVE A FEW PET VERSES OF SCRIPTURE THEY ALWAYS USE, AND THEY NEVER BOTHER TO PRESENT THEM IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT THE WRITER WAS ACTUALLY DEALING WITH, NOR DO THEY EVEN BOTHER TO PRESENT THE CONDITIONS THAT USUALLY ACCOMPANY SUCH PROVISIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, TAKE ISAIAH 53:5, WHERE IN A PROPHECY CONCERNING THE MESSIAH THAT ISRAEL LOOKED FOR, ONE OF HIS STATEMENTS WAS, “AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.” OVER 700 YEARS LATER WHEN THE APOSTLE PETER WAS DEALING WITH THE SUBJECT OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT AND EXAMPLESHIP, HE USED ISAIAH’S TERMINOLOGY (1ST PET. 2:24) “BY WHOSE STRIPES YE WERE HEALED,” AND THAT HAS BECOME A KEY VERSE FOR ALL THOSE WHO PREACH DIVINE HEALING, BUT MY POINT IS, THEY LIFT IT OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF WHAT PETER WAS DEALING WITH. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER STUDIED THAT WHOLE CHAPTER WHEN YOU GO THERE TO READ THAT ONE VERSE? WOULD YOU SAY THAT PETER WAS PREACHING ON DIVINE HEALING? YOU WHO BELIEVE HE WAS, HAD BETTER GO BACK AND READ THAT WHOLE CHAPTER. FIND OUT WHAT PETER WAS REALLY ENDEAVORING TO GET ACROSS TO THOSE PREDESTINED SAINTS OF GOD.

THERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF GROSS MISUSE OF SCRIPTURE CONCERNING SOMETHING JAMES WROTE IN CHAPTER 4, VERSE 7, FO THE EPISTLE BEARING HIS NAME. A LOT OF YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO SAY, BUT TELL ME, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD SOMEONE SAY, THE BIBLE SAYS, RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU? YOU HEAR IT OFTEN, AND IT DOES SAY THAT, BUT DID YOU EVER WONDER WHY THEY DO NOT ALSO QUOTE THE FIRST PART OF THAT VERSE? THERE IS A CONDITION TO BE MET BEFORE THE FAMILIAR PART OF THAT VERSE BECOMES EFFECTIVE FOR YOU. LET US READ THE WHOLE VERSE, AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN. JAMES IS DEALING WITH ATTITUDES AND MOTIVES, AND THE SPIRIT BEHIND THEM, AND GIVING GOOD INSTRUCTIONS TO BELIEVERS ON PROPER BEHAVIOR, AND IN VERSE 7, HE SAYS, “SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE TO GO. RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.” DO YOU THINK IT WILL DO YOU ANY GOOD TRYING TO RESIST THE DEVIL, IF YOU HAVE NOT SUBMITTED YOURSELF TO THE LORD? HOW WILL YOU RESIST HIM? I HOPE YOU SEE THE POINT I AM TRYING TO MAKE. I AM NOT ENDEAVORING TO TAKE ANYTHING FROM ANYONE, BUT I DO DESIRE TO SHOW YOU FROM THE WORD OF GOD WHERE CERTAIN SCRIPTURES BELONG, AND WHY SOME OF YOU NEVER ATTAIN THE DESIRED RESULTS FROM CERTAIN SCRIPTURES YOU PUT SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON. I WILL NOT DO THIS JUST MERELY BY GIVING YOU MY OPINION. I DESIRE TO LAY OUT A SCRIPTURAL PICTURE BEFORE YOU, THAT WILL CAUSE CRITICS FROM BOTH EXTREMES TO HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE BIBLE, AND READ THEIR SCRIPTURES IN THE COMPLETE CONTEXT OF WHAT THE WRITER WAS DEALING WITH. SOME PEOPLE SEARCH THROUGH THE BIBLE JUST LOOKING FOR VERSES HERE AND THERE THAT THEY CAN USE IN THEIR RELENTLESS EFFORTS OF TRYING TO ESTABLISH A CERTAIN DOCTRINE, BUT TRUE CHILDREN OF GOD SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO DO THAT. GOD WANTS HIS CHILDREN TO STUDY HIS WORD, AND ALLOW THE HOLY GHOST TO GIVE THEM A REVELATION THAT WILL GO BEYOND JUST MERE HEAD KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THE SCRIPTURES SAY. IT IS UPON THE ROCK OF REVELATION THAT JESUS CHRIST IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH. YOU MAY KNOW PEOPLE WHO CAN PRACTICALLY QUOTE THE WHOLE BIBLE WORD FOR WORD, BUT HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED JUST HOW MUCH OF IT THEY ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND? I HAVE. FOR THE VIRTUE IS NOT DEPENDENT UPON HOW MUCH SCRIPTURE WE CAN MEMORIZE, BUT RATHER IN WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO APPLY TO OUR LIVES IN THIS JOURNEY OF LIFE.

THE PROMISED MESSIAH

Let us open our Bibles to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah now, and read the first seven verses as a text for what we want to deal with. This is a prophecy given by Isaiah concerning Jesus the Christ and what would be accomplished at Calvary. “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faced from Him: He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” That one setting of scripture gives us a true picture of Jesus Christ. In these short seven verses are found ever so many phrases that give us a vision of the man called Jesus the Christ. Some of them are figurative of course, but that just enhances the picture even more. Like the second verse for instance, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant.” Yes, right in the midst of a religious society of Judaism. Have you ever noticed a little plant that would be standing in an altogether desolate looking place, and wondered how that little thing could just keep right on growing when everything around it seemed to be dead or dying? That is a picture of Jesus the perfect Son of God, growing up in the midst of an apostate, perverted, and rebellious religious society. Notice now, “And as a root out of dry ground.” It is pretty hard for roots to sprout life in dry ground, but here is a prophecy about Jesus, using that very terminology. He was the very life of God being manifested to a dying element of people that had carried this prophecy for more than 700 years. Through time, God had caused those Jewish people to draw from the benefits of it, yet as far as knowing anything about the fulfillment of it, they knew nothing. That is still true today. Many people are partaking of the benefits of a lot of provision they know absolutely nothing about. I can just hear those Scribes and Pharisees boasting of a great prophet by the name of Isaiah, but when that man’s prophecy was fulfilled, they were as void of life and reality as some of these old dried out, red clay banks you see along the highway at times, just an old dry crust. Right in the midst of that, a tender plant shoots forth displaying life and purpose. That gives the setting, and next comes something dealing with the person. “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” There was absolutely nothing about the man’s looks that would draw attention from the natural society of that day. He had no title, nor degrees, and no plaques on His wall, nor anything else to proclaim to the world what a great person He was. There was absolutely nothing about His looks, nor His background, that would cause people to desire Him. Yet these Hollywood type television preachers who claim to be exemplifying Jesus, will do everything within their means to get their name plastered on billboards, in the newspapers, on television, and any other place they can think of, with a great spiel about how great they are. They are known the world over, not necessarily because they are great men of God, but primarily because their advertising proclaims them to be. On the other hand, the greatest man that ever walked on earth, in simplicity, and with integrity exemplified character and obedience to the Father that God wants us to see, and that the world at large cannot see. There is no character to be found in those Hollywood actors out there. The world may call them great, but has God called them great? No! They have their reward already. Brothers and Sisters: I am not saying these things just to belittle these men: I am saying them to help you see that genuine greatness does not come to anyone in that manner.

UNDERSTANDING AND WISDOM ON DISPLAY

I was just reading in the 2nd chapter of Luke how Jesus, when he was only twelve years old, was found in the temple sitting in the midst of the great scholars, listening to them, and also asking them questions, in so much that they were astonished at his understanding and answers. Then over in John 7:14-15, Jesus was in the temple teaching, and the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? In other words, How can a man who has never even gone to our seminary know so much about the word of God? Brother He wasn’t standing up there recognizing Professor So and So, and Dr. So and So. From such and such university. He was speaking for His Father, and He was willing to let the chips fall where they would, so to speak. There was no compromising for the sake of sparing anyone’s feelings. When the great doctors of the law of Moses withstood Him, He did not hesitate to call them serpents, or children of the devil. He recognized the spirit in them, and knew that they could never be children of God. Satan’s children do not have the new birth experience. That is reserved for foreknown children of God that all too often have been servants (not children) of Satan.

THE PROMISE, AND THE CONDITION

Alright now, as we go through the Bible looking at often used scriptures, that are used in an effort to establish a doctrine of divine healing, we come to Psalms 103, to start our journey. This prophecy and promise was written long before Isaiah ever came upon the scene in Israel. Starting with verse 2, we read these words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thing iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Saints, I want you to notice, that in these scriptures, divine healing as a promise, is connected with the fact that there is iniquity or sin involved. Please do not ever separate it. That is the way God meant for it to be seen. We will go right back to Exodus 15:26, (another frequently used verse) and we will see the very same thing there. This was after the bitter waters had been made sweet by casting a tree into them at the instruction of the Lord. The people had been murmuring against Moses because of the bitter water, and the Lord took this occasion to prove them, and said, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” How many times I have heard men who pray for the sick, just simply quote the Last seven words of that verse; “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” That is an absolute truth, but it is connected to everything else in that entire verse. When you isolate it from its context, you are avoiding what God had in mind. Let us just take a minute to examine this entire picture. We all know how God opened up the Red, Sea for the children of Israel to walk across on dry ground, and how He caused the waters to come together again drowning the Egyptians that pursued them, and how all the people rejoiced when they saw what the Lord had done for them. But in only three days time, they seemed to have forgotten that the Lord was still their supplier. They journeyed three days from the crossing of the Red Sea, and their water supply was exhausted, and when they came to this old stagnated water hole, and found that the water was not fit to drink, what did they do? They began complaining to Moses and Aaron, and blaming them for the fact that they were found in those circumstances, but was it their fault? The answer is emphatically, No! God was testing them. Brothers and Sisters: Let me say right now, Do not ever get to the place where you think God is through testing you. For as long as we remain in this mortal flesh, every true child of God is going to be tried and tested. God is not seeking to mold us into stable, word believing children who know beyond any shadow of doubt that He is our protector, and supplier of every need. Not every want, every need. You can depend upon Him. Does that mean that we will always have everything we need? You will always have everything God sees that you need, including trials and tests. Anyone can have faith and confidence in God when everything is going well. But how many are able to do what Paul wrote in 2nd Thess. 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It does not say, Give thanks for every thing that happens, but it does say, or mean, that no matter what the conditions around us may be, we ought to be ever mindful of the presence of God to deliver us in due time, and be thankful for that. So what we see here in Exodus is a series of conditions whereby the Lord tested those Israelites, and no matter how many times He delivered them, and provided for the, the very next time something went wrong, they began to murmur and complain, What kind of a leader are you Moses? Did you just bring us out here to die? Why didn’t you just let us die in Egypt? At least we would have had plenty to eat and drink while we were still alive. Moses was being tested too. He did not know three days ahead of time, that this old water hole would be like that. When the people began to murmur, Moses cried out unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him an old tree, and had him cast it into the water, and the water was made sweet. Doest that mean that there was some special virtue in that old tree? Of course not. The virtue was in being obedient to the word of the Lord. Though there was no purifying virtue in that old tree, this was absolutely the only way that stagnated water could have been made drinkable, because this is what God told Moses to do. God is our supplier, but He uses people and things to get the job done, and He expects us to be spiritual enough to recognize His part in it all.

COMPLAINTS INSTEAD OF THANKS

Another time when those journeying Israelites needed water, God told Moses to take his rod in his hand and smite a certain rock, and, water would come out of it, and that is exactly what happened. It just goes to show, that no matter what the situation may be like, there is always something that God will use to change the circumstances on behalf of His people. And many times, after a great trial, He will bless you abundantly, just like He did them, after they journeyed onward from the waters that were made sweet. The very next place they came to, had twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there, and enjoyed them. What happened when they left there, you say? God took them out into the wilderness, and let their food supply run out. Now you would think that by now they would have gained some confidence in the Lord to supply what they had need of, but had they? No, it was the same old story; all they could think to do, was blame Moses and Aaron. But in spite of their attitude God was on the scene, for He was working out a purpose, establishing a truth that would stand the same right on through the ages. Notice verse 4, of chapter 16, what was said, and done. “Then the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, THAT I MAY PROVE THEM, whether they will walk in my law, or not.” God gave them those little wafers which they referred to as manna from heaven, and instructed them about how much of it they were to gather up for each person, and so forth, but you know, they could not even obey God in that. Some of them gathered extra and stored it up for later, and the next day it had already turned to a stinking mess of worms. Yet when they followed the Lord’s instruction, and gathered enough on the sixth day to keep over for the Sabbath, it stayed fresh. But in spite of the Lord’s instructions, some of them went out on the seventh day to gather for that day as if the Lord had not even spoken to them. Saints, some people just simply have a terrible time all because they will not follow the word of the Lord. God was giving them quail in the evening, and manna in the morning, and not one of them had any lack for sufficient food, but the very moment a little something went wrong they immediately began crying to Moses and Aaron as if God had forsaken them. God was moving them toward Mt. Sinai, where He was going to give them a law to govern themselves by, and He was testing them along the way, and it seemed as though they did not learn a thing. That is how some people are. They just live for the moment. When things are going good for them, they can jump, and shout, and praise the Lord above everything else, and the very moment a little trial hits their life they will start crying, “I thought God loved me. Why is He allowing me to suffer like this? If something doesn’t change soon: I may never set my foot inside a church house again. This is just too much for me to bear.” How many of you have heard people talk like that? I have. They do not have any more faith in God than a rattlesnake. They can only believe what they can see, touch, taste and so forth.

KEEPING GOD’S WORD BALANCED

Well, Moses finally gets this rebellious gang to the foot of Mt. Sinai, and God begins to give them the ten commandments, and they became fearful and said to Moses, You speak to us: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. So God continued speaking to them through Moses saying, “Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” Then He gave them a long list of judgments and ordinances, and made promises to those who would walk therein, and He called Moses to come up upon the mountain where He would meet with him. Moses stayed up there forty days and nights, and the Lord gave him the two tables of stone with the Ten Commandments written thereon. But the people grew impatient waiting for him to return to them, so what did they do? They got hold of Aaron and said, Get up, and make us some gods, that will go before us, for this Moses that brought us out here has disappeared, and we don’t know what has happened to him. So before Moses could get back to them, they were already worshiping a golden calf. God told Moses he had better get himself back down there to them, for they had already corrupted themselves. They were like some of these Pentecostals that go around saying, If the Spirit does not move me: I move the Spirit. They just simply cannot wait upon the Lord to move in His time: they just feel compelled to get something going. God has a perfect way of molding character, attitude, determination and consistency into our lives, if we will just not get impatient, and run ahead of Him. Some people gauge their whole life by the material progress, and easy life that they are able to enjoy, and they never stop to realize that they are void of the leading of the Spirit of God until many times it is too late. There in the wilderness, after they had crossed the Red Sea, more of those Israelites died than probably were killed by the Egyptians in all the years of their slavery. Why? All because they were inconsistent in recognizing God’s goodness and mercy. In Exodus 32:6, we read, (This was after they made their golden calf to worship) “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings: and the people sat down to eat and drink; and rose up to play.” Can you imagine a people that has witnessed the supernatural power of the living God as many times as they had, turning to worship a manmade idol? God’s anger was stirred up to the point where He told Moses, Let me destroy every one of them, and I will make of thee a great nation. But Moses intervened for them, reminding the Lord of the promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning their seed, and the land He would give unto them. The Lord spared them from total destruction, but the sons of Levi were sent throughout the camp with their swords slaying those that had instigated such an abomination. They had plenty to eat, plenty to drink, and they were going to the church of their choice, so to speak, worshiping manmade gods instead of the true and living God that had delivered them from Egyptian bondage, so all they had in mind was eating, drinking and playing. But God had a higher purpose than that for them. By His own sovereign choice, He had determined to mold an element of people from among them, into examples that would exemplify His redemptive plan and purpose for all of mankind. It was through this nation of people, that all the types and shadows pointing to Calvary, and to the overall plan of God were set. Spiritual realities were established through God’s workings with them in the realm of the natural. Therefore He did not say to them in vain, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, (In whose sight? In God’s sight, not our own) and will give ear to His commandments, and keep ALL His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” He gave them a law to live by, and if they would have obeyed that law from their heart, they would not have had to suffer many of the things they suffered. But I want you to notice that there are two main points to be observed here. First, the promise is to those who live by the word of the Lord, and secondly, a lot of sicknesses are not to be considered in the same light as diseases. A bad cold is not a disease. But it could lead into such, if not treated properly. Tuberculosis, cancer, leukemia, and all those killer type things are what God had in mind when He said diseases. There are a lot of people in the world today that are sick in their mind, and it is not because of a disease. In other words, They are sick in the head. Do you know why? Simply because they do not know which way to go with their lives. Even many doctors are diagnosing emotional sickness as the underlying cause of many physical problems. Fear and worry many times puts the whole system in such a state of turmoil that the natural functions of the body cannot work properly. Therefore over a prolonged period of time, a thing like that can bring on a disease that can lead to death. That is why we can saw that fear is a disease of the mind, but it is usually self inflicted, because fear is not of the Lord. When a person is full of fear, you can read it on their countenance. Their whole expression takes on a weary look. They are not capable of facing their problems in life, because they misread everything they see and hear. Things that make other people happy only seem to worsen the situation with people who allow fear to rule their lives, because they never seem to get things connected up right. On the other hand, a truly happy person seems to always know how to balance out their thinking. When they get a bad cold, they know how to treat it. When something of a more serious nature strikes them, they do not go running off somewhere screaming in fear and disillusionment, they are able to take it to the Lord in prayer, and wait for His answer. What place does fear and doubt have in the life of a true child of God anyway? Can that change things for the better? Do not get the idea that I am promoting carelessness, for that is just the opposite of what I am trying to get you to see. But I am saying that a stabilized positive mind that recognizes the responsibilities of life, need not be fearful, and always fretting and worrying about something, for they can commit their circumstanced into the hands of an all sufficient God, and allow Him to work it out for them. So please do not isolate, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” from the context to which it belongs. It definitely does not mean that the Lord will heal you under just any kind of circumstances. He can! But His word does not obligate Him to. I hope you see my point. You just simply cannot make a doctrine of something on the mere basis that God has worked a certain way on behalf of some needy soul in distress. Whatever God does for anyone, anywhere and at any time is for some specific purpose, which many times, only He knows. I have known Him to miraculously heal someone, that would later on in life, turn completely away from Him. Yet I have also seen precious God fearing, God loving, Bible believing saints lay and suffer for years, and then die. What yardstick can you measure a thing like that with? If you are truly spiritual you will not try to give a pat answer for everything God does. You will realize, that in His own sovereign way, He is working out a plan whereby He will perfect those that are His foreknown children, and He does not have to explain it to the tares. Furthermore, unless you are serving God in truth with your whole heart, you have no right to the promises made to those that do, for the promises are conditional upon obedience.

NOT DOCTRINE – JUST SOUND ADVICE

I am going to take you into the book of Leviticus, (no certain chapter, and you will not need to read it now) and look at the statutes and ordinances God gave those Israelites on what to eat, and what not to eat. It had a twofold purpose, but the primary objective was that God was setting a type to a people that He was sanctifying in the flesh. He was sanctifying them above all people of all nations, in order that He might set a type in the natural, of spiritual things to come. Therefore He gives them a list of clean animals that they can eat, and of unclean that they should not eat. Then we need to realize that there were certain health benefits to be derived from this selected diet. They were absolutely forbidden to eat swine flesh, and that is a part of some people’s daily diet in this Gentile society. On the other hand, some preachers have made a doctrine of abstaining from certain foods according to this list God gave the children of Israel, and they attach spiritual benefit to it, rather than just mere health benefits to the physical body. Statistics do show though, that among Jewish and Moslem women who abstain completely from eating swine flesh, there is less trace of cancer in the female organs than in any other race of people upon the face of the earth. Do you suppose that is just a coincidence? Or can we trace it back to the Bible? We must try to see God’s purpose. If after more than 3000 years this thing is still holding true, can we, and should we even want to separate the promise of Exodus 15:26, from the condition of Exodus 15:26? I say, No. Leave it like God meant for it to be. But Bro. Jackson, what about 1st Timothy 4:4, where the apostle Paul wrote Timothy that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received for thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer? Well, in the first place we need to realize that Paul was dealing with this thing from the spiritual side, for he also included forbidding to marry in the same verse that speaks of abstaining from meats. There is no condemnation to us in eating any kinds of meats, if we do so in a healthful way. But all to often we are given to excesses and extremes that do cause us physical problems. Eating meats has become an American fad, and I am afraid that there is a price to be paid for it in the flesh. Americans eat more meat than all the rest of the world put together, and instead of being the healthiest people on the face of the earth, we are fast becoming the unhealthiest. Why? Because we are consuming things in excess of what would be a practical, wise way. I just read an article recently about the soldiers wounded in Korea, and taken to the hospital. Even in those young men, doctors found a cholesterol buildup in the American men that was not present in the Korean men. That should tell us something. Those Koreans who may, or may not know anything at all about what the Bible says about the Israelites abstaining from eating certain unclean animals, still enjoy the natural health benefits, even though their abstaining may be from necessity rather than choice. I am not trying to establish any kind of health doctrine; I am only giving you examples that I believe can help you better understand what God was dealing with, as He had certain things written in the scriptures. I am fully convinced that any true scriptural doctrine that deals with the spiritual aspect of the Christian life can be preached to the universal church of the living God. But can you imagine preaching a health diet to poor souls in Haiti, or in India, or some place like that, where they just have to eat whatever they can get their hands on? Yet from the standpoint of sound advice, I believe there are some things that should be brought out of the scriptures, and applied to those who may be able to benefit from it. I just have to say this, God who gave these laws, and ordinances, and attached certain promises to them, is still the God of every single one of those promises. But do not be so foolish as to think you can run headlong on this road of life blindfolded to the extremes of the society round about you, and after drifting along in those extremes, still be a partaker of every promise in the Bible. If you think all these promises are ours, no matter how loose we live, you are way off course. Some of your trouble in life is due to the way you have lived your life, without being selective about what you do, say, eat and so forth, and some of it many times is due to just plain outright disobedience and stubbornness. That is why I say, No one message is going to deal with every aspect of the subject we are on, but I believe we can show you some things in the scriptures that can help you better understand the will and purpose of God in it all. We need to get some of the cobwebs out of peoples minds if we can, for there is something coming up the road shortly that will require Holy Ghost people to exercise some spiritual sense in order to avoid some terribly humiliating, and shaming experiences.

FAITH WROUGHT THROUGH TRIALS

I have always said, If the day ever comes, that I have to stand up in a courtroom to defend what I have lived, and taught from this pulpit, I want to be able to open up my Bible and say, “Your Honor: The witnesses in your courtroom have been required to swear by the Bible that they would tell the truth, and from that same Bible, I have read and understood what I have taught. Therefore if what is written in there is not good enough to pattern our lives after, we ought not use it to take an oath by either.” Saints: Let’s either live by it, or quit playing around with it, one of the two. Just gleaning pet doctrines from it is no spiritual benefit to you whatsoever, if you are going to ignore the rest of the book. There is positively no way that we can force God into a corner with our little doctrines; for He is sovereign. He does what He has determined to do, and He does it without checking with any of us to see if it is alright to do it, and He does it to suit His own purpose without having to do the same thing in every similar situation. The promises we find in the Bible lets us see how God desires to minister to our individual lives, but we do not obligate him unless we meet every condition that is connected to those promises. Too many times, we read Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter, realizing that everything that comes from the divine presence of God comes by faith, but failing to take into account the trials and tests that those men of faith had to overcome before that could be written about them. Our initial faith is an impartation from God Himself, for we have nothing of ourselves. But that faith which lays hold upon those promises is a faith that is built into us as we understand more and more of the word of God. When we read Isaiah 53:1-7, in which we find that wonderful verse, “By whose stripes we are healed,” surely we ought not fail to understand that God’s primary concern is to first get us out of our inherited dilemma. Sickness and disease are the result of sin and alienation from God; therefore His first concern is not to get your physical body healed. His primary concern is to get His foreknown children to the place where they walk in complete harmony with Him, and healing for the body of flesh is only one of the promised benefits that one may enjoy along the way. In other words, God is concerned about the healing of the body of Christ, but not the healing of the sicknesses and diseases of the nations. Brothers and Sisters: I hope you do not think I am preaching against divine healing; I am not. I just desire to see the body of Christ get it into its proper place. I remember years ago when God first brought us out of the Methodist Church into this wonderful light of His word. I just wanted to have the kind of faith that it seemed like most everyone was preaching at that time. I wanted to get so spiritual, and have so much faith, that I would never be sick again. Brother! I realize now, that if that ever happened, God would cease to be a healer! Is that the way you wish to interpret the word of God? If it is, you will have to ignore a lot of other scriptures. No, you may as well face it honestly: that is not what the Bible teaches. But I will say this, If God has told you that you will never be sick: you will never be sick. But most of us face certain trials and tests along the way, and it is important, how we deal with them. If we will not let the devil get in and take over our thinking, somewhere along the way, God will intervene and take care of the problem. It is a natural reaction for us to want deliverance as soon as a pain strikes us, but it is not right, and not pleasing in the sight of God when we become frustrated, and just allow our thinking to run completely wild. His word does not teach us that we should refuse medical help when it is available to us, but it certainly does teach us, that whether we accept medical help or not, we should still have faith in God, and believe that He will work out all things for our good.

AFFLICTION IS NOT SICKNESS AND DISEASE

There is an often quoted verse in the 34th Psalm that I want us to look at, while we are still in the Old Testament. It is verse 19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Now this is a promise, and it is usually used in connection with sickness and disease, but if you will trace the word affliction, or afflictions, as it is used here, you will find that it has nothing at all to do with sickness and disease: it is strictly used in connection with persecutions, attacks of the devil in dozens of different ways. When the Lord looked upon the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage being treated as they were, what did He say to Moses, out there on the back side of the desert? “I have seen their afflictions.” He did not deliver them out of Egypt because of their sicknesses; He delivered them because of their afflictions. He saw their afflictions, and heard the cries, but their cries were a result of the way those Egyptians treated them. They hated them, and thought they could get rid of them by working them to death, but God had other plans. He delivered them out of the hands of those Egyptians. Is that the way God always delivers righteous souls that are being persecuted and ridiculed? No. He delivers some of them by taking them to glory, after their heads have been cut off. He will never let a truly righteous soul spend a lifetime in jail though, even though many of them spent quite a little time in jail. Isaiah 53, even uses that word afflicted, in connection with Jesus Christ, so are we going to say that Jesus was sick, or diseased? No. But He was hated, and persecuted, and ridiculed. That is how He was afflicted. You just simply cannot interpret the scriptures according to the English usage of certain words in our day, for the word affliction, is commonly applied to physically handicapped people in our day and age. In the New Testament we find the word infirmity used quite often, where we, in our day might use the word affliction; so we have to look at the scriptures in the light of the language used in the days when they were written, rather than the way we use many of the same words in our day. Therefore I say, Yes, God delivered those righteous saints out of their afflictions, (trials of persecution, ridicule, abuse, and so forth) but some of them were delivered by having their heads cut off. Oh, Bro. Jackson, I certainly do not want my head cut off. Neither do I, but God knows best, and if that is how my life is to glorify Him: then that is in His hands. Just think for a moment about how some of those early disciples of Jesus died. We would never have allowed the apostle Peter to be crucified, nor Stephen stoned to death, and to allow someone to be led to the old chopping block, and have their head cut off would be unthinkable to us, but God allowed it. His ways are not our ways. He is not like a vending machine, where you have many choices. He has one perfect way for us to walk in, and anything else is out of His perfect will. We program everything down to a human level of reasoning, and then we wonder why, when we get people saved, and their lived do not change. Then we try to get them healed, when all the time they are continuing on in sin. Sure, God could heal every last one of them, but healing is not His first concern for our lives. Some people will say, Well Jesus sure healed a lot of people when He walked on earth, and Hebrews 13:8 says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is absolutely the truth; He is the same, and His promises are the same, and always will be. But the effects of His promises are always going to be regulated according to the will and purpose of God, instead of according to the interpretation of Raymond Jackson, or the interpretations of any other preacher. God is running this thing His way, and there is not one thing that any of us can do to change it. That is why many people will absolutely end up in a ditch somewhere before the coming of the Lord. Why is that? Simply because they will want Him here ten years before His scriptural time to be here. There were several of us young fellows sitting under the ministry of Bro. Branham, expecting that the Lord would have been here before now, but God is not bound by anything except His own word. Well, at least I never did have any part in setting a certain date for the return of the Lord, and that is more than a lot of them can say. But my point is, No matter how we may have interpreted certain scriptures 30 years ago, we are still here, and the Lord still has not come. There is no way to force the hand of God before its time, and that has caused a lot of denominational people to take an opposite extreme.

UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF HEALING

This side of the Reformation, denominational preachers of various movements have dogmatically proclaimed that divine healing was just for the first age, and only the apostles were authorized to pray for the sick. I believe it goes without saying, that such men have lost out with God, or they would know better than to say such a thing. They deny the very book they preach out of, simply because they do not know how to interpret it. That causes them to look to medical science for all healing of every sort, when actually God is the only source of healing there is. It is just a matter of getting our thinking in the right channel. I will have to admit to you, that I did not understand these things when I was still in the Methodist church. But since that time, God has opened my eyes, and allowed me to see clearly the beautiful truth, that Jesus Christ is truly the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is man that has changed. God deals with people according to their circumstances, and the opportunities they have had to hear and believe His word, and even then, you cannot force Him to abide by any certain pattern. Therefore the final analysis of it all, is that God and His word are forever the same, and religion itself is full of unbelief. They preach unbelief, and the only thing their preaching can produce is more of the same thing. That is according to God’s own law of sowing and reaping. You will always reap an increase of what ever seed you sow. You simply cannot sow tare seed, and then reap a crop of wheat from them, if you know what I mean. By the same token, you cannot preach unbelief, and have souls born into the kingdom of God as a result of your preaching. But Bro. Jackson, there were at least 50 people that came to the altar, in that meeting I attended last night. That has nothing at all to do with it; you simply cannot change the word of God. History reveals that God many times has showed Himself to be a merciful healer in certain sets of circumstances where those who witnessed it one time, might never have had the same opportunity again. I am reminded of just such a thing, that I read from an old book about John Wesley. He was not a preacher that preached on divine healing as many of the well known evangelists of our day are known to do. But there are two particular cases recorded, that I want to relate to you. The first is about a particular woman who was a devout follower of the teaching of John Wesley. The time was at hand for her to deliver a child. Night came on, and the labor pains started, and they sent for the doctor to come. The doctor came, and did all he could do, but there was no delivery, and her labor pains turned into extreme agony. They feared for the poor woman’s life, but there was little that anyone could do for her. Then someone fell upon the idea of calling for John Wesley to come and pray for her, because of their belief in the prayers of that man of God. A runner was sent to bring him, but when he arrived at the place where John Wesley was supposed to be staying, he was nowhere to be found. But, do you know what happened? Someone said, Here is the bride off of his horse; take that. How silly, some have said. But, Saints: Do not ever sell God short. Is there anything too hard for Him? That runner took that old bride back, and they laid it across the woman’s stomach, and in just a very short time, she delivered her baby. Do we question God? Absolutely not. I am sure the woman would not have wanted to go through the same ordeal year after year, just to prove that God is still a healer, or that God is still the same, but God allowed her, a precious believer, to suffer such an ordeal, so He could show her just how real He truly is. Where did they get the idea to do such a thing, some may wonder? They got it from the 19th chapter of Acts, where Paul was having such a great revival at Ephesus. Let us read verses 11 & 12. “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” The medical profession of our day would think a thing like that was awful silly, but God used it then, and He has used it from time to time since the two references we mentioned. But tell me, Should we preach that, and make a doctrine out of it? No. It is not recorded in the Bible, to be used as a foundation for a doctrine. It just allows us to see how a sovereign God can do things for His own glory and honor without being forced to do it every time man expects it to be done. That is why I said, God is not a vending machine.

SOMETHING YOU CANNOT BUY – NOR SELL

Another case involving John Wesley goes something like this, While John would be preaching, the Holy Ghost would come upon people and they would just fall out under the power of the Spirit, and someone would haul them home in a wagon. They did not lay hands on them for this experience, it was altogether a sovereign act of God. But in one particular service, there was a man present, who made fun of those that passed out. He called them a bunch of fanatics, and thought that was all a lot of foolishness, but God did not think it was foolishness, for a little later that man was found lying on the floor, with severe cramps. The doctor was called, and he did all he could, but the man was still in agony, begging for someone to do something. When they had done everything they knew to do, and the man thought he was dying for sure, he said, See if you can get hold of the preacher by the name of John Wesley, and ask him to come and pray for me. John Wesley came in, and knelt down over that poor man, as he lay there screaming and wallowing on the floor, and prayed for him, and immediately his cramps were gone. He never criticized the things of God any more. But do you know what that reminds me of? These Church of Christ preachers on the radio, that are always challenging someone to come on their program and heal someone, if there is any such thing as divine healing. I do not know how God lets them get by with such ungodly criticism, but surely there is a reason why He does. They have even gone so far as to offer 10,000 dollars for scientific proof that someone has been healed by the power of God. They are blind, and cannot see where they are going. No one who has truly experienced divine healing, is looking for an opportunity to sell his or her experience to a bunch of unbelievers like that. Maybe I should just say it like this, To my knowledge, those who have accepted various challenges from them have never been able to prove anything, for God is not in that sort of thing. They will get their proof in due time, but it will never help their unbelieving souls, for that is not how the Father draws men to salvation.

WHO IS THE GOSPEL FOR?

As we look deeper into the salvational aspect of all these promises, we have to realize that they are promises made by a sovereign God, and the benefits of them are bestowed upon needy humanity to accomplish the purpose of this sovereign God. We have no right to lift any of them out of the Bible, with the idea of applying them to our little church programs. We cannot even do that with the salvation of a lost soul, so why should we be allowed to distribute the children’s bread in just any old carnal way? I know all of you have heard at one time or another, some preacher say, Come on sinner, give your heart to God; you can be saved any time, and any place you choose, so why not now. But that is not the truth. That lost sinner cannot be saved until the Spirit of God draws him, no matter what the preacher may say. Naturally when we look at the great commission, Jesus did not say, God into all the world and preach the gospel to every (What?) Predestined seed. I grant you, I have known some characters that interpret it that way, but God’s will is for us to preach the gospel to all who will listen to it, and He will save them, all that have an ear to hear the Spirit of God saying. This is for you. Today is the day of your salvation. We preach it as though the whole world is going to believe and be saved, but we know that only those who were foreknown of the Father are going to believe unto salvation. We also know that the promises of God are only to them, even though others have been known to receive the benefits of some of those promises. I want to read John 6:44, to you though, in order that you may have scripture for what I just said. “No man can come to me, (Jesus speaking) except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Our only authority, and our only responsibility to woo that predestined soul, and cause him to see the need for his own personal salvation. The early apostles never tried to manipulate the gospel message, and present it as though every person had a choice as to when and where they would be saved, and neither did they go around just looking for predestined seed to preach to. They preached as though they expected everyone that heard them to be saved, but they were never known to arm wrestle anyone to an altar of prayer. Neither did they ever put a name on the church roll. They left the bookkeeping to the only one who know which names belong on that church roll, and those names were written there before God ever created anything. That is where His great foreknowledge enters into the picture. He did not have to wait unto the end, to find out who would believe and be saved. He already knew. The gospel is preached to call the heirs of salvation home to their inheritance, but those who preach it do not know who the heirs are, so they preach the message to everyone who will listen. Praise God! I’m glad I don’t know which ones are predestined to believe. I prefer to have Him running the thing. One thing I do know though, Many times God has healed a lost man as a means of getting his attention, and usually when that happens, it gets the attention of a lot of others also, but that is strictly in His hands. Man has no control over it. It is just like the case where the Holy Ghost poured out upon the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, before they were baptized in water. God is sovereign; He can do that. But the promise in Acts 2:38, has a condition to be met first. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.” Now, notice the next verse. “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as (What?) The Lord our God shall CALL.” Take that verse along with John 6:44, and you will see that only those who are wooed by the Spirit of the Father will ever believe unto salvation. Bro. Jackson: Doesn’t it say, Whosoever will? Yes, but God knows who will. He even told Cain that if he would do right, he would be accepted also, but He already knew Cain would not do right. God did not force Cain to do what he did, but neither would He force him to do right either. He just allowed him to follow his inbred nature.

SOME MIRACLES CAUSE TROUBLE

Let me take you into the 5th chapter of Acts now, for another view of this thing of divine healing. Jesus is in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and finds His way to the pool of Bethesda where a lot of sick and crippled folks were lying around the pool waiting for an angel to come down and stir the waters, in the hope that they might be the one healed. One of those that lay there, was a man that had an infirmity for 38 years, and could not walk. Jesus looked at him and said, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (We have to realize that Jesus was led of the Father to do this, for by His own words, He never did anything that the Father did not lead him to do.) “The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. (Only one person got healed each time the water was troubled.) Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. (He wasn’t lying on an army cot; it was just an old dirty blanket that he drug around with him.) And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.” This took place right in the middle of Judiastic church headquarters. The Scribes and Pharisees were all around them, and this root out of a dry ground, this tender young plant that has sprang up in the midst of this spiritual desolation, has stuck His neck out. So notice verse 10, how those hypocrites reacted. “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed on the Sabbath day. He answered the, He that made me whole the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.” That really stirred them up. They did not have any mercy or compassion; all they cared about was forcing everyone to keep the letter of the law. So what did this miracle of healing do? It caused an uproar. The Father led Jesus to do that, and it has caused nothing but trouble. The Jews are trying to kill Him for doing that on the Sabbath day. It seems that the only one happy about it, is the man that was healed. I hope you get my point here, for I see this healing as an act designed just to aggravate the critics, and give them something to talk about. In other words, this is what God is going to judge these by. It was designed by the Father for this very purpose. Jesus was not out on a healing campaign, or He would no doubt have healed some of those other folks that were lying around the same pool. No. He healed that one man, because He had a purpose in doing just that. Now I know some of you will say, It is the will of God to heal them all, and I agree that from our human standpoint that would be nice. But I also know that if He did, we would soon be like the children of Israel, that forgot what God had done from them down there in Egypt. The first thing you know, we would be running around looking for Him to do something new. Do not tell me, humans are not like that. People are very prone to forget just how good God is; but His main objective is to keep His children in the line of His will.

DOES SIN CAUSE SICKNESS?

The next scripture I want to look at, is not a popular one for the divine healing preachers, and those who like to preach that speaking in tongues is the evidence that we have the Holy Ghost, but it is in the Bible for a purpose, so let us look at it. In the first verse of John chapter 9, we read, “And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth.” Now saints, that is a tragedy. It is a terrible thing, when a little baby is born blind, but it is a worse tragedy when certain preachers teach it is the result of sin, either in the father of the child, or its mother, or both. But humans are like that; and that is why His disciples reacted as they did. Notice verse 2. “And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” That did not mean that none of them had ever done anything wrong; it just simply meant that his condition was not the result of sin in his family. Nevertheless you will find a lot of people even today, that look upon everything in that same way. That is why I mentioned speaking in tongues as the evidence of having the Holy Ghost. There are a lot of people in the world that would never believe a person had the Holy Ghost, if that person never did speak in tongues. Would you agree? Do any of you believe like that? If that were really true, then all deaf and dumb people would end up in hell, unless God healed them first. Do you see where that would put your doctrine? Such a person would have to get healed first, before they could be born again, and made children of God, for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, is the new birth, or born again experience. Therefore we must conclude, if we are going to believe the Bible, that a person can receive the Holy Ghost and still not speak in tongues, but a person absolutely cannot be born again without receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost , for that is what the new birth is. Now my point is this, Do not tie the salvation of a soul to anything except believing unto repentance, and obedience to God’s word, and do not tie a physical handicap to personal sin. Naturally all such, are the result of the original sin in the garden of Eden, but we simply cannot apply personal sin to them every time, for there are some things as they are, strictly for God to glorify Himself through, as was the case here, for Jesus spit on the ground, and made clay to anoint the blind man’s eyes with, and then told him to go wash, in the pool of Siloam. When the man washed, he received his sight, but not everyone glorified God because of it. The Scribes and Pharisees reacted in their usual way, and before long, even the man’s parents were afraid to acknowledge that Jesus had healed their son’s eyes, lest they be put out of the synagogue. But you really have to read the last three verses of that chapter to see the overall purpose of God in this episode. In verse 39, we read this, “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, THAT THEY WHICH SEE NOT MIGHT SEE, AND THAT THEY WHICH SEE MIGHT BE MADE BLIND.” What is our conclusion? Simply this, many times God used divine healing to draw a lost sinner to Christ, but there is never a time, when we should try to make a doctrine out of what He does. Actually when we analyze the works of Christ Jesus, we find that many times when He would perform one miracle of healing, maybe a hundred souls would believe, and at other times, He could perform a hundred miracles, and only one would believe, and accept Him as their Savior. In other words, a wrong doctrine on divine healing, has been the cause of many a poor soul just giving up, when they were taken with a disease of some kind. Nowhere in the Bible, can you find Jesus nor His disciples teaching such a thing that would cause anyone to say, If I cannot believe in Him as a supernatural healer, I guess I just cannot be saved. Yet we find men teaching things exactly like that, and many of them have a sizeable following. One such group located in Northern Indiana, actually have the same name as we do. They do not believe in going to the doctor, nor in taking medication, and a lot of them are dying because of it, and that gets them in the news. But the news media seldom ever bothers to pinpoint Faith Assembly of Indiana, they are reporting on; therefore a lot of people just naturally think it is this congregation here in Jeffersonville. But saints, listen to me, We have no such teaching as that in this assembly. There may be some here, that believe like that, but it is not because I taught any such doctrine to them. I believe that God is truly a divine healer, and furthermore He has healed me many times, but there are times when I feel the need for medical treatment, and I am scripturally positive, that it does not affect my salvation in any way, nor does it diminish anything from my personal faith and confidence in God. I just happen to believe that God expects us to use a little common sense as we travel this pathway of life. Being a child of God is not dependent on keeping a set of rigid rules; it is a life to be lived, actually to the point where the very Spirit within you, causes you to walk with God without even being conscious of having to keep certain strict rules layed down by carnal man. The devil is very cunning though. If he cannot keep you from serving God, he will try his level best to get you off on some extreme manmade doctrine, that will rob you off true fellowship with the heavenly Father. Some people work so hard trying to prove their faith, they never really enjoy any of the true benefits of a genuine faith in God. That is what is so sad about these poor souls who are taught that if they go to a doctor, it shows that they do not have faith in God. It causes many of them to try to live the life, without the Spirit of Christ to enable them. As I said: If the Lord has told you that you would never have to go to a doctor, then you can depend on that, but if you are just trying to follow some carnal teaching about divine health, you are sure to end up in a ditch somewhere, for God is not obligated in the matter.

WHY ARE SOME SO BUSY?

Those who somehow get the idea that a true Christian has to be out doing something for the church every day, or night of the week, also miss God, for He does not keep His true children so busy running here and there that they wear themselves out. Several years ago: just after we had started the church down here in New Albany, I had the idea, that in order to serve the Lord properly, we needed to run to everything that was taking place anywhere around. We had services here on Thursday night, went to the Branham Tabernacle on Wednesday night, another place on Tuesday night, and if there was something on Friday and Saturday nights somewhere we tried our best to go, and then had services to attend on Sunday. We were constantly on the go, just go, go, go, rush, rush, rush, until circumstances intervened. Finally I took a bad cold, and that thing just hung on for weeks and weeks. Every time I tried to preach, my through would just simply break down. I would use Listerine, gargle with whatever I thought might help, and take Aspirins, to try to keep myself going, but I was just simply worn out. Then one day, just as sure as I am standing right here, right now, the Lord said to me, Stop this running around! Stop this running around! Upon examination I came to one conclusion, I was just simply being driven by my own idea. There is more to serving God than just running here and there all the time. I have heard people say, (and I know you have too,) Oh, you cannot go to church too much. But I am here to tell you that you can. You can run yourself half to death. After learning this lesson the hard way, I have determined that Faith Assembly will never have so many programs going on, that it keeps people running to church for something every night. You can get yourself so busy, that you actually lose sight of the true goal of Christianity. One common phrase you hear so much from people who are busy, busy, busy, trying to serve God, is that we are saved to serve. But I say it like this, We are saved to live a life in the light of truth, and true holiness, and we need to wait upon the Lord to lead us into what ever service He has for us. That way, we will not just be serving some program, and the Lord will enable us to do what He calls up to do in service to Him, if we will not become overzealous in what we are doing. We find a case in the New Testament, where a certain brother overtaxed his body in service to the apostle Paul. In the 2nd chapter of Philippians, Paul says that Epaphroditus was sick, nigh unto death, because he had not regarded his own life in service to Christ. He says to them, God has had mercy on him, to spare his life; therefore I send him to you more carefully. In other words, Now that he is back on his feet, let us not lay such a heavy load upon him, that he cannot take care of himself, his own health, and so forth. Now the reason I wanted to put this little situation in our message, is because it demonstrates the fact that we can be sick unto death, without necessarily having some terrible disease. This fellow was at the point of death because he had driven himself to a state of exhaustion in his efforts to serve the needs of Paul and the other saints.

A DEAD MAN IS RAISED TO LIFE

Let us go to the 11th chapter of St. John, where we will look at another divine act, designed by God for His own glory. It concerns a fried of Jesus by the name of Lazarus. The chapter opens, saying, “Now a certain man was SICK, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.” Bethany was a little town, just over the Mt. of Olives from the city of Jerusalem. Therefore many times, when Jesus would go to Jerusalem to preach, He would go back to Bethany, and spend the night in the home of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. But at the time of this particular incident, Jesus was beyond Jordan River preaching, in the same vicinity where John was baptizing, when he baptized Jesus. That put Him a good little distance from Bethany, where His friends lived. Now verse 2 says, “It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, (Jesus) saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, (Notice now) THIS SICKNESS IS NOT UNTO DEATH, BUT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” Brothers and Sisters: This sickness was not just something that brought instant death to Lazarus; it lingered on for quite some time, and even though we do not find it recorded one way or the other, do you think those two sisters did not use every medical means available, trying to control that thing? The Jewish people had their physicians, and Jesus never even suggested to any of them, that they should not use them. It has been Gentiles, that have taken various scriptures, and perverted them, to exclude physicians and medicine. I will not take the time to try and establish by the scriptures, that physicians and medicine are in the Bible, for most of you know already, that they are. So let us continue on, here in John 11, where God has ordained a situation where He will get glory to His great name, and also the Son Jesus will be glorified. I just have to believe that those two sisters did everything they possibly could, to keep the fever down, and comfort their brother, Lazarus. But saints, Jesus already knew what the outcome of this incident would be, so there was no way that it could have been changed. Even if there had been ten thousand Gentile preachers praying for Lazarus to be healed, he would have still died, for this was ordained of God to be like this. Verse 5, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.” Natural human reaction would have been to drop everything, and go. But Jesus did only what He was led to do of the Father. It would not have done a bit of good for them to have done as most people do, Oh preacher, if yo love him like you say you do, come immediately, and pray for him. No. Two days later, Jesus said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” Naturally His disciples did not know that He was speaking of death; they only thought of a sick man that was resting in sleep, so they said, “Lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well.” They have no way of knowing that Jesus was referring to this temporary state of death as sleep. “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” His disciples thought He was walking into a death trap Himself, because that angry bunch of Jews was still looking for Him, but at the suggestion of Thomas, they all decided to go with Him, even if it was to their own death. Now you all are familiar with this story. You know Lazarus had already been dead four days when they arrived there. Many of the Jews from Jerusalem were there to comfort the two sisters and when Martha heard that Jesus was on the way, she ran out to meet Him, and said, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Normally, the chemical makeup of the human body is breaking down and stinking terribly four days after death, unless the body has been embalmed and prepared to prevent it, as we do in our day. But Jesus said to Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” That is when Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection.” But to get on with the end result, we must skip some of this reading. Jesus asked, “Where have ye laid him?” It was a cave, sealed up with a stone that covered the entrance. So He said, “Take away the stone. Martha said, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” He did not tell them to go in there, and carry him out, even though he was wrapped up in all the embalming paraphernalia, with spices and all that gooey ointment they used in their embalming process. When they removed the stone, Jesus just simply lifted up His eyes, and said, “Father I thank thee, that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, LAZARUS, COME FORTH!” Saints: I want you to think seriously about the circumstances here. The moment Jesus said, Lazarus, Come forth! It was done. There stood Lazarus, outside the tomb, but still wrapped from head to feet in these grave clothes. He did not walk out; he floated out by the power of God. There stood a living mummy, so to speak. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” Those Jews that had come to comfort Martha and Mary, saw everything that took place. Some of them believed on Him, while some others went and told the Scribes and Pharisees what had happened. Brother, that set religious headquarters in an uproar. You would have expected a miracle like that, to have converted the whole city; but no, it set the city in an uproar. They turned against Him even more, and furthermore, that same old spirit is still present in the world today. No matter what may happen, nor how much good comes of it, there is always an element of people that will find fault with what is done, or how it is done, or to whom it was done, and instead of giving glory to God for the good, they become violent and hostile. But brother, nothing can change the plan and purpose of God. Neither can anyone dictate to Him, what He can, or cannot do. Bro. Jackson: Will God heal a sinner? Of course He will, and that does not necessarily mean that the sinner will give his heart to the Lord either. Will He heal every sinner? That is a foolish question, seeing that what He does, always has a foreknown purpose attached to it. Of course there are natural means through which He heals, that are not even to be considered as a divine act, for it works according to His law of healing. God is the only healer there is, even though there are many things available that assist the process of natural healing. A divine act, is when God, by His sovereign power oversteps the existing conditions, and shows Himself to be the God fo the impossible. But that is not the normal process by which we are healed. God never meant for us to bypass all the natural laws he has placed in effect, and just live in a supernatural realm all the time, and the truth is, no one can, even though many do talk, and teach as though a person ought to.

JOB’S TRIAL OF FAITH

I am sometimes amazed at some of the Bible examples that certain ones use, trying to prove, or disprove something. One man wrote, in a little book I have somewhere, The reason Job was sick, was because of fear. Do you know where he got that idea? From Job 3:25, where Job, in a lengthy discourse about his condition said, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” If such a man as wrote that little book, would just take the time to read carefully the beginning verses of that account of Job, he would see that Job was not afraid of anything like that before the devil was turned loose upon him. The Bible says, “He feared (reverenced) God, and eschewed (hated) evil, and that he was perfect and upright in his ways.” That is what God told the devil about Job, when the devil was accusing Job before Him. What Job said about fear, was his confession after he had suffered all these things. He wasn’t fearful before those boils appeared on him, and before he lost his sons and daughters, and even through all of that, he still loved and reverenced God. The only fear he had, was a reverential fear, and the Bible itself says, that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Men who have this reverential fear of God are just the opposite of the kind of men Peter wrote about, in the 2nd chapter of his 2nd epistle, and that Jude wrote about. They wrote about men who had no fear of god, and no thought for anything except pleasing their own flesh. But let me tell you something, saints, the same devil that tested Job, is still in the world today, and God is still allowing him to test the children of God. So do not ever get the idea that God has forsaken you, just because something happens that you do not understand. Satan said to the Lord, the only reason Job serves you, is because you have blessed him abundantly, and hedged him in. If you put forth your hand and touch all that he hath, he will curse you to your face. Now the Lord new better, but He allowed Satan to go to work on Job, to strip him of all that he had, only he was not to touch his life. You see, God allowed all of that for a purpose, and God still allows that sort of thing from time to time, but you simply cannot make a general application, and apply what you read here, to every situation you hear of. Some sickness is the result of sin, and other times, or maybe we should say, In other lives, it is simply a trial of their faith. You will notice that while Job sat there on the ash heap scratching those boils, here come the preachers saying, surely this is because of some sin. Why don’t you just confess? Job called them, miserable comforters, full of vain words, and that is about all you can say for such characters as that, for most of them know very little about the true plan and purpose of God, and how to look at situations from a scriptural standpoint. But in Job’s case, God had another preacher that did not follow the same pattern as all those others. Hallelujah! This one came along with some helpful advice, and old Job recognized that his advice was different. When he finished, Job’s whole attitude was changed, for he had heard the word of the Lord. Do you know what Job’s only problem really came down to? He was righteous in his own eyes, and he did not even realize it, until Elihu spoke to him. After that, he wanted to get everything set in order. Now who do you suppose wrote his testimony? I do not believe his critics did it. All they could do, was find fault and accuse him; so they would not have been anxious to write about that, once God had intervened and restored Job. Well anyway, my point is this, When he had been thoroughly tried and tested, he came forth as pure gold. That was even his own testimony. We can take that right over to the first chapter of James where he wrote to the twelve tribes which were scattered abroad, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience,” and so forth. But does that mean that every sickness is for the same purpose as Job’s? No. Absolutely not. Children of God have to learn to pray and seek God for some answers in these things. Then that brings up another point. How do we pray? Some will be like Job was at first, and pray, Lord, why has this happened to me? What have I ever done to deserve such treatment, and all such self-righteous phrases as that. But on the other side of the picture, we find those who truly humble themselves before God and man, and desire only to know the perfect will of God for their lives, knowing that the benefits wrought at Calvary, are for such as give God first place in their lives, and realizing that we do not merit anything from God because of our own goodness. No. Let us seek God with our whole heart, and trust Him to work in the situations of our lives, and work them for our good, and above all, do not make a doctrine out of everything you read in the scriptures where God moved by a supernatural means to change the circumstances that seemed to be stacked against someone.

DOES GOD CHANGE HIS MIND?

I realize how upset some people get, when I say that there is no doctrine of divine healing in the scriptures, but it is the truth, and true children of God know it is the truth when they take the time to study it out. There are many provisions and examples of divine healing, but there is no doctrine that obligates believers to fell guilty if they go to a doctor, or take a pill. But of course some will come right back, and say, Then why did Jesus say, “Oh ye of little faith?” I will tell you one thing first of all, That was not His way of saying, Damn the doctors, Damn the hospitals, and Damn the medicine, as some of you do. He was the tender plant (a man of perfect faith) standing there in the midst of an apostate nation of people that had lost all contact with the supernatural power of God. Why could He not say to them, “Oh ye of little faith?” To most of them, God was just a historical memory, like the great prophets that had prophesied to Israel in former day. The Gentile church world is in the same shape right today, that Israel was then, and they are so blind they do not even know it. That is why they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. But God is never without a true witness somewhere, no matter how rotten religion in general may get, so I say to you who love truth, Do not despair, God hears your heart’s cry. He heard Hezekiah, when he turned his face to the wall, and cried out to Him. When King Hezekiah was sick unto death, the prophet Isaiah came to him, and said, “Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” But as soon as God’s prophet walked out the door, King Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and cried out to the Lord saying, “I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him saying, Turn again and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” Did God change His mind? Some may ask. God knew what was going to take place all along, but Hezekiah did not know it, for from the standpoint of natural circumstances, Hezekiah was the same as a dead man. He would have died, if God had not intervened, and dealt with him as He did. There is nothing about it, that would give any reason to say, God changed His mind. It is just like saying to any lost sinner out here, If you do not repent: you are going to hell. It would be the truth; but God already knows which ones are going to repent and be saved, and which ones never will. The fact that God already knows how every situation is going to turn out, does not eliminate the need for prayer, for that is part of the overall plan that God has for our lives. His foreknowledge and predestination takes into account all those times the true seed will pray and seek His face in the matters of their lives. I want you every one to be sure you catch what we are going to read next. In verse 8, we read, “And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign thou shalt have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He hath spoken: Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? (That would be the shadow on the sun dial.) And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: (He knew it would do that anyway, eventually) nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” There was te sign Hezekiah asked for, so on the way out, Isaiah said to someone, probably one of the servants, (Notice now) “Take a lump of figs, And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.” In other words, They made a poultice out of a lump of figs, and applied it to the boil, and it drew the poison out. No doctor today would make a poultice of figs; they would give you a penicillin shot, which would accomplish the same thing. But my point is, Isaiah did not just simply pray for him, and the healing take place supernaturally; they treated it with a home remedy, and that was the will of the Lord. Are you hearing me, preachers? I said, God had them treat the sick man with a home remedy. Sure God could have healed him without that poultice. That is why we know that God had it recorded in the Bible for some purpose more than just to fill up space. Now you may say, That is just one little example. But I say to you, How many times does God have to do something before you will acknowledge that it is Him doing it, and if He will do something one time, it is certainly wrong for you to preach condemnation to someone for a similar situation?

PREACH TO THE LOST SOUL

We are looking at both sides of this picture as we go through the Bible, so let me ask you this, When the great persecution hit the early church, after Stephen was stoned to death, and the disciples were scattered abroad, they went everywhere preaching what? Divine healing? No. They went everywhere preaching the gospel, or the word of the Lord, as it is expressed in various places. But what else does it say? God bare witness to the gospel they preached with signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His will. They preached the gospel of salvation, and God backed them up with the supernatural. Isn’t that better than preaching the supernatural, and leaving the gospel out of the picture altogether, as some do? You lay the foundation right, and the Lord will not fail to build upon it. Those early apostles had a right revelation of God’s plan and purpose for lost mankind, so their first concern was to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of men and women, and God always worked with them, confirming their word (which was His word) with signs and wonders, and all sorts of miracles including divine healing. Then when Paul was shipwrecked on a little island, he prayed for the father of a tribal chief that was sick, and when the power of God came down and healed him, many others also, which had diseases, came to Paul, and were healed. But do you think Paul preached to a divine healing message to them? If those apostles had not received a better revelation than that, we would not even have the gospel today. We would not even know that Jesus Christ hung on an old rugged cross at Calvary, to pay our sin debt to God. Brother, that is the first thing that ought to be preached to a lost man. All the other fringe benefits will be added later. About half of the New Testament was written by the apostle Paul, so I believe we would all have to agree that he knew what God wanted him to preach and write, as he fulfilled his role in the ministry to the Gentiles. Would you not say so? Alright then, notice what he wrote to Timothy in 1st Tim. 5:23. “Drink no longer water, (that means water only) but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake, and thine often infirmities.” Some people have a stomach that just simply cannot tolerate the drinking water in various places they travel to. I am like that to a certain extent. I make a habit of taking very little water to drink, when we travel overseas, for that same reason. I try to stick mainly to Cokes, coffee, and tea. The water for coffee and tea is boiled, so that purified it. But that lets me know a little something about the trouble Timothy had as he traveled from place to place in the work of the Lord, and Paul knew about it, and his advice to Timothy has been the topic of many heated discussions through the years. However regardless of what men may say or think about Paul’s advice, the fact remains, that a true man of God did give that advice. Please notice though, that the word used there in that verse is infirmities, not afflictions. Infirmity pertains to a physical condition of sickness or disease, or something of that nature, and affliction, as we have already said, pertains to persecutions, trials, and things of that nature. But as for the wine for an upset stomach condition, a true man of God knows that does not give him a license to carry a brief case full of wine with him all the time. Furthermore no true man of God would even want to. But to take a little once in awhile to settle an upset stomach would never hurt anyone at all. But. Bro. Jackson, if we truly believe, that by His stripes we are healed, I do not believe we ought to take any medicine of any kind, for any reason. Dear Brother, Dear Sister: That is your privilege to believe like that if you want to, but do not try to use the Bible to establish it as a New Testament doctrine, for you cannot line it up with the scriptures all the way through, as you can any true doctrine of the Bible. Also with what the medical profession has been allowed by God to discover in this generation, I am sure that there are many things that would do the same thing for an upset stomach, as a little wine would do, so let your mind rest easy, if that bothered you. Furthermore if God has dealt with your life in such a way that you feel no need to ever see a doctor, or take a pill, I will respect your convictions and even rejoice with you because of it, for I am persuaded that there are those that do truly have such a testimony. But it is a personal thing. Do not try to persuade others to try such a life as an experiment. For that is exactly what it would be, if God had not dealt with them in the same way. I hope you understand what I mean by that.

HOW WE ASSUME CERTAIN THINGS

Much of what is taught out here in Pentecost, is a result of what God did sovereignly, around the turn of the century. God just simply bypassed the ministry, and filled hungry souls with the Holy Ghost, healed their diseases, and gave them gifts of the Spirit. All of which, was done to get the church of the living God pointed back toward an apostolic way of life. But regardless of what He manifested in a sovereign way, none of it could ever change His word. His word remains forever the same. But because God chose to deal with those souls like that, many preachers seemed to get the idea that God wanted it to be like that from them on. They began to present as a universal picture for the body of Christ, things that God meant to be personal to those that received such experiences. Therefore before long, out came the theory, If you do not have faith to be healed: how do you know you have faith to be saved? This created such a question in the mind of some, that they just simply turned away from the Pentecostal message completely. Brothers and Sisters: Do not ever be guilty of perverting the word of God like that. Even though the provision is there, you have no authority to tie the two together like that. God is the administrator of all of it, and many times the flesh still has to suffer for a while, even after the spirit has been set free. I have to keep confessing that I was partially swayed in that direction, when we first began going to the tabernacle to hear Bro. Branham, for I just reasoned within my own mind, that if we were to believe what we were hearing, and follow it, we would have to stop going to the doctor, and quit taking medicine. No one actually told me that; I just assumed that they all believed like that. I learned later, that it was just an assumption on my part, even though some of them did believe like that. One thing I do know, Bro. Branham did not teach that. He would go to the doctor when he needed to, and he would take an aspirin if he needed one, but before I really learned what the scriptures project as a true picture, I fought a lot of battles. I can take a lot of abuse myself, and I can stand quite a bit of pain, but I just simply cannot stand to see a little baby suffer, burning up with a fever, when a shot of penicillin, or an aspirin tablet can help it. We went through every bit of that back in the fifties, and at first I wondered, Am I heading down the right road or not? Where is all of this going to lead me? But over a period of time, I began to say, I know this is truth I am hearing, and I do not understand all about divine healing, but until I do, I am not going to let my babies burn up with a fever, and be guilty of experimenting with their lives. I still feel like that. Only now it is my grandchildren instead of my own, that I cannot stand to see suffer, when there is something that can be done to relieve their suffering.

PERSONAL TESTIMONIES OF DIVINE HEALING

Some of you have heard me tell about the sinus condition I carried for so long, but I want to put it in this message, because it demonstrates a certain point I have been trying to establish in this message. That condition would hit me at times, and when it did, it just about put me out of commission for awhile. One such time was when I was in a Task Force, heading for the Philippines on a ship. I took a bad cold, and immediately it went right to my sinuses. My head felt like it would just burst open any minute. They put me in the ship’s hospital for about three days, and filled me full of sulfa drugs, and I drank water until I felt like I could float a battleship. That killed the germ of it for the time, but ever so often after I cam back home it would hit me, and when it did, I would just have to head for a dark room, and lie across the bed. During the time when Bro. Branham was having that great healing campaign at the Church of the Open Door, I was having these attacks, and I sat there just praying that the Lord would point me out to Bro. Branham, so I could be healed. But I went through that whole meeting, and it never did happen like I was praying for it to. I would suffer with it during the day, and at night I would feel a little better, and go to the service, through that whole time. A few weeks later, I had another bout with them, and went to an old doctor there in New Middletown, close to home. He gave me some treatments, and the condition got a little better for a while. But during that time, I really got serious with the Lord about it. I said, Lord, how am I ever going to preach the gospel, if I am always going to be plagued with this condition? Lord, is there something that can be done? Then one night, when I had suffered through the day with it: I saw myself in a dream. It looked like I was on a hospital bed, being rolled into an operating room. As I was being taken into that room, out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures in white coming toward me, and then they were standing over me, like two doctors, I thought. No words were spoken, but I could see hands moving back and forth, and instruments being passed. Then, all of a sudden, it felt like they were starting to operate on my sinuses. I could literally feel those instruments, as they were forced into those sinus cavities, and there was a little noise, and it was the noise that awakened me. But, do you know what I am going to tell you now? I have never had another sinus headache since then; and that was back in the 1950’s. May God be praised, for He healed me right then, and there. I have had bad colds since then, where my nasal passages would clog up until I could hardly breathe, but, Praise God! I have never had another sinus headache. The physicians and surgeons of or society would probably make fun of such a story as this, but saints, if there were ten thousand of them listening to me tonight, I would still say the same thing; God healed me. If you have ever had that kind of pounding in your head, brother, when you no longer have it, you do not need anyone to tell you that it is gone. Hallelujah! God had His way of doing things for His own glory. I did not do anything to merit His favor, and I knew that all along, but in my hour of desperate need I cried out to Him, and He answered my cry.

Another thing I wish to include in this message for the glory of God, concerns something He did for my wife, when she was expectant with one of the children. We did not realize it at the time, but here is what happened. It was the fall season, but it was still very hot. My father-in-law and I were in the field working, when my wife suddenly appeared, crying. She was in severe pain, and said, I have got to go to the doctor. (Here again, I want to say to every critic, I do not believe in experimenting with my family members, to see if I have faith for their healing. I firmly believe that when genuine faith is present for a specific thing, you know it, and you do not need to experiment.) When she said, I have got to go to the doctor, all I knew to do, was get her to a doctor as soon as I possibly could. Therefore, right in the middle of the day, we rushed her to the emergency room, and the doctor met us there. They took her right in, and I had to wait out in the hall. Then a little while later, the doctor came out, and said, Raymond: It is tubal pregnancy. Furthermore it is just a matter of time before it ruptures, and then it will require a quick operation, or she could bleed to death. Brothers and sisters: I knew nothing at all about the seriousness of a condition like hers, except what the doctor had just told me. He said, I have given her a shot to ease the pain, and I have already called the surgeon, and he should be here in a few minutes. We cannot take any chances; for once that ruptures, everything will have to be done within a few minutes of time. You will never know how that made me feel. There lay my wife, that I loved with all my heart, the mother of my other children, suffering such terrible pain she could hardly bear it, and now he has just told me that she could bleed to death. You would have to experience it, in order to know exactly how I felt, so I hope you never do. After a little while, he told me I could go in to see her, and when I walked in, and saw her lying there on that emergency room table, all of this was running through my mind. I did not know exactly what to expect next. The nurse had been instructed to check her blood pressure every few minutes, and if it suddenly dropped, that would be the signal that it was rupturing. The nurse stepped out of the room, as I approached the table where my wife lay, (They had already told my wife what was taking place, and what to expect.) And she looked up at me, and said, I believe everything is going to be all right; Let’s just pray. There I stood, expecting the worst. Thinking that just any moment they would come rushing in to take her to the operating room, and she says, I believe everything is going to be all right. Let’s just pray. I bent over that table, and said, Heavenly Father, don’t let a knife have to be used on this body. I ask you to undertake for this condition. You know what this is all about. Each time the nurse checked her, after that, the blood pressure was down a little. The blood pressure slowly dropped, and the pain was leaving her, and we waited for about one hour and fifteen minutes, and go the report that the blood pressure was normal. Then the nurse asked, How is the pain now? My wife said, It is gone. The nurse responded, I don’t see how that could be possible. A little later, she called the doctor in to check her, and he said, Well Mrs. Jackson, How do you feel? She replied, I’m feeling fine. How is the pain by now? I don’t feel any pain. He said, I just don’t understand this. Do you think you are felling well enough to go home? Yes, I feel fine. We asked him if it was possible, that the shot had taken all the pain away, but he said, the shot could only have taken the edge off of the pain; it could not have taken it away completely. Praise God! He is the one that took the pain away. We do not question as to why these things are allowed to happen. We only praise Him, because He is a very present help in time of trouble. Sometimes He allows His children to experience such things as that, just so He can show them how real He is. My wife carried the child, and she is with us today, so do not ever try to tell me, that God is not a healer. I say that to you Church of Christ preachers, because you do not believe that God is still a healer. But I also say to you Pentecostal preachers who do not believe in doctors and medicine, You do not have your revelation of God’s word straight either. He is a healer, and there is nothing too hard for Him, but He will not do exactly as man expects Him to do in every situation. He has His own way of doing things, and He does them in His own time, and for His glory, instead of for the glory of some Pentecostal preacher.

A VERY PRESENT HELP

I am looking at a brother back there tonight, that was in the hospital in 1971, facing open heart surgery. But prayer was made on his behalf, and instead of having open heart surgery, he went to Israel with us a short time later, and walked all over the Holy land. He still has periodic checks, but twelve years have come and gone, and he has not had that surgery yet. Furthermore where he could not walk before, he walks now, and we just give praise to our living God for it. Hallelujah! He is the one that perfects praise from His people. Naturally we are not able to rejoice very much when we are in the middle of a hard trial, but when that storm cloud passes over, we cannot help but lift our hands and say, Thank you Lord, for watching over me; I am so thankful to know that you are a living God, and that you care for me. Brothers and Sisters: God does not want us to walk around with our head in a spin, always looking for a miracle; He just wants us to walk with Him in simplicity, and trust Him, without taking some fanatical extreme in doing so. There is no way we could give you the perfect answer in this message, to every question you will face in life; but I believe we can point you in the right direction, if you are willing to let the word of God speak to your heart. Once you are traveling in the right direction, with a right attitude, I believe God will show you what to do when you need to know what to do. Sometimes He does it by inspiration, and at other times, He works circumstances around you to accomplish it, but we need to rest assured that He truly does care for every last one of His children, and He does not intend to allow the devil to destroy you. Many times though, the children of God suffer more than they would need to, simply because they do not give God any room to work in the concerns and situations of their lives. He is present to help if we will just call upon Him. Do not allow fanatical extremes to rob you. Keep your revelation in the middle of the road.

LOOKING AT SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES

I heard one preacher with my own ears, make a statement on a radio broadcast a few years ago, that was about as ridiculous as anything I ever heard. People were writing in, Would you please visit Bro. Or Sis. So and So, in Such and Such hospital, and pray for them? His reply was, I will have you know, that I do not have any Brothers and Sisters in the hospital. There are no children of God in a hospital. Extremes such as this have caused many people much pain and suffering, because they did not know which way to go. Furthermore, Pentecost has never tried to straighten up the mess either. None of them would ever take a scriptural stand, that would enable people to make up their mind one way or the other. But brother, with the help of God, I intend to hold up Bible truth for saints of God to look at, regardless of what some of them may think, or do. I am not looking for a place to preach; I have on already. So I do not have to be worrying about whether this preacher, or that preacher, will let me preach to his congregation or not. They may have their degrees in theology, and be able to use great words that I never even heard before, but I am fully persuaded that none of that can ever change the word of God the least little bit. This Bible was written in simplicity. It’s doctrine is the same for everyone, but personal convictions are given room to vary somewhat. That is why I never attempt to force my personal convictions off on anyone else. I know preacher that will condemn you to hell for drinking a cup of coffee, or for having a television set in your home, and dozens of other things. But I believe every true child of God ought to allow his or her heavenly Father to tell them what to do about these temporal things. I refuse to make a sin list for anyone. But there are some doctrinal things, and some moral standards, that every true child of God is required to stand up for. This is a different story altogether. When it comes to a question as to whether a Christian ought to take medicine or not, or whether they should go to a doctor or not, I leave that to the individual person. But for the sake of answering some of your questions, let us go to Genesis 37:25, and look at something there. This is the account of Joseph’s brothers selling him to a company of Ishmeelite traders, so notice what they are carrying down to Egypt, to trade. Joseph’s brothers envied him, and was jealous of him, so when his father Jacob sent him out to where they were tending their flocks of sheep, to inquire of their well being, they layed hands upon him, and cast him into a pit, and in verse 25, we read this, “And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmeelites came down from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and BALM and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.” Most of you know this story, therefore I am only mentioning it, to call your attention to what those men were carrying down to Egypt, to trade. One of the things mentioned was balm, and it was a well known fact, that the balm of Gilead was an herb that had certain medicinal qualities, and evidently was very valuable, for that reason. Another mention of this balm, was when Joseph had tricked his brethren into bring Benjamin with them the next time they came down into Egypt to buy food. Jacob did not want him to go along, but that was a condition that Joseph had set forth, and when all their food was gone, and it was necessary for them to go back, or starve, Jacob finally consented saying, (Gen. 43:11) “If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little BALM, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; and so forth.” Of course none of them knew at that time, that he man they were dealing with down there in Egypt, was their brother Joseph, that they had sold to the caravan of traders. But my point is BALM was included in what they were taking the man as a present. To me, it proves that balm was a very valuable commodity, and it was an herb that was used for its medicinal benefit, and it was the Creator Himself that put it here for them to use. Even today, there are no doubt herbs growing out here, that would be far better for mankind to use, than a lot of what medical science produces, if man had not lost his knowledge of them. The animal kingdom still knows what to look for, when they are where they can get to it. When a cat gets sick, what does it look for? A little plant called catnip. Something about that plant, settles it stomach. It is the same with a dog, when it gets sick. There are certain blades of grass that it looks for, and it will fill its stomach full of them. Why? There is something in them, that the Creator put there for that purpose, and He gave them the instinct to know what to look for. They will not just go out and chew on any old weed that might be close by. They know what to look for. If man had not lost his way, he would be doing the same thing. There are many substitutes that we could use, if we just knew about them. Let me say this though, when it comes to the salvation of your soul, there is no substitute. You must be born again. But when we are talking about healing for our bodies, there are many avenues that we can travel. Whether your healing is by a sovereign or divine act on the part of God, or whether you go through a medical process to reach your desired healing, it is still God that does the healing though, for he is the only healer there is. Do not ever give the devil credit for healing. He manipulates a lot of things, and he can call of his demon helpers for a while, but he is not a healer. That attribute belongs sovereignly to the Creator. I will not hesitate to tell you though, that the devil has just about as many preachers out here in the world, as he does doctors, ands scientists. They are unreasonable, unstable, some wishy washy, and some dogmatic, preaching things that the scriptures could never bear out, and they will change their doctrine in a moment of time, if there is a material advantage in doing so. If men like that are ever brought into a court of the land to give an account of what they have preached, what bible are they going to get their answers from? As I said earlier, If a thing like that ever happens, I want to be able to open my Bible, or even the one they use to swear in witnesses, and say, Your Honor, I got it right there. It is the word of God, that I have been preaching. That is why Jesus said, When you are brought before the council, take no thought for what you will say, for the Holy Ghost will give you in that hour, what you shall say. I guarantee you this much, What He gives you to speak, will not be something that cannot be backed up with the scriptures, for God does not contradict Himself. A lot of people are getting themselves involved in debates on the scriptures, and saying things that the Holy Ghost did not give them to say. Such people as this, actually bring a reproach upon the Lord, and His true people.

We have looked at this balm of Gilead as it is applied to the physical body for its healing benefit, but now I want to look at a scripture where the Lord had His prophet use the same thing in a figurative way. But this figurative usage, associates balm with sickness, and physicians, and that is what clinches it, in the light that we have presented it. In Jeremiah, the 8th chapter, after some of the children of Israel were already in bondage, in Babylon, and God is looking upon their pitiful condition spiritually, he speaks of it as a sickness. Let us begin reading in verse 19, so we can catch the whole setting. “Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold of me. (Notice now.) Is there no BALM in Gilead; is there no PHYSICIAN there? Why then is not the HEALTH of the daughter of my people recovered?” Application is made here, as though this were a true physical sickness, but you have to realize that it is figurative language, used like this because God is looking at His chosen people as a sick bunch of people. They are spiritually and mentally sick, because they have lost their way. Brother, let me tell you, This old world today, is full of people that have lost their way. They are sick, and they need a physician, (spiritually speaking) just like those Jews down there in Babylon did. They will not be healed though, because they would rather be Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians, and This and That, than to be Bible believing Christians. All we can say is, They had their chance to follow God in truth, and they made their choice; therefore they are left to follow their manmade creeds while God moves His true children on to higher ground.

Brothers and Sisters: We started this message with a promise that we would establish from the word of God, what divine healing is, and what it is not, so we are not finished yet. We will conclude it in our next issue.

God bless you every one, and may we all benefit from studying these scriptures together. We still have many more to look at before we finish

DANIEL, CHAPTER 9

WE ARE LIVING IN A DAY AND HOUR WHEN IT SEEMS THAT JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WANTS TO BE SEEN AND HEARD AS SOME GREAT AUTHORITY ON SOMETHING, AND AN AWFUL LOT OF THEM KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO TEACH OR CRAM DOWN THE THROATS OF OTHERS. I FIND THAT ESPECIALLY TRUE IN THE RANKS OF RELIGION, AND THAT IS THE MOS SERIOUS OF THEM ALL, FOR THESE CHARACTERS ARE TAMPERING WITH THE SOUL OF THOSE WHO FOLLOW THEM. RELIGION AND POLITICS ARE BOTH GIVEN EQUAL STATUS BY THE NEWS MEDIA OF OUR DAY, AND RIGHTLY SO, FOR THEY ARE BOTH AS ROTTEN AND CONTEMPTIBLE AS THEY COULD POSSIBLY BE. BUT GOD IS NOT WITHOUT A TRUE WITNESS IN THIS EVIL AGE, NO MATTER WHAT SOME MAY THINK, FOR HE DOES HAVE A FEW GOD FEARING, BIBLE BELIEVING, BLOOD WASHED CHRISTIANS THAT STAND APART FROM ALL THE CORRUPTION OF THE ORGANIZED RELIGION, AND ARE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE GROSS DECEPTION OF BOTH POLITICS AND RELIGION IN OUR DAY. OF COURSE WE ALL REALIZE THAT THESE CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT, AND MOST OF THEM WE CAN DO VERY LITTLE TO CHANGE, BUT NOW AND THEN WE DO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN HEARING THE TRUTH, AND I FEEL THAT THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES FOR ME. I HAVE RECENTLY RECEIVED A LITTLE BOOKLET SUBMITTED BY MR. A. W. POST AND MR. TOM MARSHALL ENTITLES, “BRANHAMISM, FACT OR FICTION,” IN WHICH THEY HAVE SOUGHT TO DISCREDIT OR DISPROVE FOUR OF THE MAIN SUBJECTS BRO. BRANHAM TAUGHT ON, AND WE BELIEVE TO BE TRUE DOCTRINE. THESE SUBJECTS ARE PREDESTINATION, THE SERPENT’S SEED, THE END TIME PROPHET, AND THE SPOKEN WORD MINISTRY. NATURALLY WE DO NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS BEING TAUGHT BY VARIOUS ONES WHO CLAIM TO BE FOLLOWERS OF THE MESSAGE DELIVERED TO THIS AGE BY BRO. WILLIAM MARRION BRANHAM, BUT WE DO TAKE OUR STAND TO DEFEND THE TRUTH OF THESE VARIOUS BIBLE DOCTRINES THAT ARE UNDER ATTACK, FURTHERMORE WE OPENLY DEFEND THE CHARACTER AND IMAGE OF OUR PRECIOUS DECEASED BROTHER THAT WAS USED OF GOD IN THIS AGE, AS NO OTHER MORTAL MAN HAS BEEN, AND WE TAKE EXCEPTION TO ANY REMARK THAT BRANDS HIM AS A FALSE PROPHET. HE TRULY WAS A GOD ANOINTED PROPHET, AND HIS “THUS SAITH THE LORD,” WAS RIGHT IN LINE WITH THE WORD OF GOD EVERY TIME. IT NEVER FAILED. IT IS ONLY WHAT OTHERS CLAIM HE MEANT, THAT IS PROVING TO BE INCORRECT AS TIME GOES ON, AND GOD IS ALLOWING THAT, FOR IT IS SERVING ITS PURPOSE IN THIS SEPARATION TIME. IN THIS LITTLE BOOKLET, TRYING TO DISPROVE BRO. BRANHAM’S MALACHI 4 IDENTITY, AS THAT ELIJAH THAT WAS TO COME, THEY POINT OUT HOW THE ELIJAH OF REVELATION 11, WILL BE KILLED, AND HIS BODY LIE IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, AND THEN BE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD AND TRANSLATED INTO HEAVEN, BEFORE THE EYES OF THE OF THE WHOLE WORLD. “UNFORTUNATELY MR. BRANHAM WAS KILLED IN AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT, AND CARRIED TO THE FAITH ASSEMBLY CHURCH IN JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA, WHERE HIS FOLLOWERS WAITED FOR OVER A WEEK FOR HIM TO BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD. HE WAS FINALLY BURIED, UPON THE INSISTENCE OF THE INDIANA STATE AUTHORITIES. HE WAS NOT RESURRECTED NOR TRANSLATED INTO HEAVEN, AND BECAUSE HE CLAIMED TO BE SOMEONE OTHER THAN WHO HE REALLY WAS, WE ARE LEFT WITH ONLY ONE CONCLUSION, CONCERNING HIS CLAIMED OFFICE OF PROPHET, (LISTEN TO THIS BLASPHEMOUS REMARK.) HE WAS INDEED A PROPHET, A FALSE PROPHET.” SAINTS: THAT REMARK CAME FROM THE SAME OLD SPIRIT THAT IS ON DENOMINATIONAL RELIGION. THEY WILL GO TO ANY EXTREMES TWISTING THE SCRIPTURES TO FIT THEIR OWN PARTICULAR DOCTRINE, AND THEY WILL GO THE SAME EXTREMES IN THEIR EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT ANYTHING GOD DOES, THAT DOES NOT FIT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THEIR PARTICULAR DOCTRINE. THEY WILL USE ANY CARNAL MEANS TO JUSTIFY THEIR REFUSAL OF ANY FURTHER TRUTH. THESE MEN HAVE GONE INTO BRO. BRANHAM’S SERMONS AND PULLED OUT CERTAIN STATEMENTS THAT THEY BASE THEIR WHOLE CONCLUSION UPON. NO DOUBT THEY GOT ENOUGH OUT OF “THE CONTENDER,” TO MAKE A CONNECTION WITH WHAT THEY ENDEAVORED TO WRITE ABOUT, FOR BRO. BRANHAM’S BODY WAS NOT BROUGHT BACK TO FAITH ASSEMBLY CHURCH; IT WAS TAKEN TO COOTS FUNERAL HOME, IN JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA, AND IT WAS MUCH, MUCH LONGER THAN A WEEK BEFORE HE WAS FINALLY BURIED. IT JUST LETS US KNOW THAT THEY TRIED TO BE A GREAT AUTHORITY OF SOMETHING THEY KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT. MAYBE THEY WILL CHALLENGE ME ON ONE OF THE CONTENDER SUBJECTS ONE OF THESE DAYS. I HOPE THEY DO; FOR THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THEM CONCERNING THEIR BLINDNESS TOWARD REVEALED TRUTH FROM THE WORD OF GOD.

ONE WEEK OF YEARS

Brothers and Sisters: you may think this is a strange introduction to the subject we are going to deal with, but please remember this, it is this old Antichrist spirit of error and perversion that causes us to have to deal with these things in the way we do. Denominational religion has closed their ears to any further revelation of the word of God, and the radicals of this message are perverting every truth that the true people of God stand for. That is what causes me to feel that we need to deal with the seventieth week of Daniel one more time, for even though this is not a salvational message, it is still of utmost importance, or the Devil would not fight the true teaching so hard. This is a subject that is dividing households. Family members are divided against each other because they cannot agree on whether half of that seventieth week is already fulfilled, and both sides are able to point to something they have directly, or indirectly received from Bro. Branham’s teaching on the subject. Do you know what it is all about? It is two different spirits battling for preeminence, the Spirit of God and spirit of Antichrist. One proves it by the word of God, and the other tries to prove it with the statements of a man. As we have pointed out many times before, Bro. Branham was the prophet messenger to this age of Laodicea, therefore he had to feed both elements of believers, truth for the genuine believers, and something else for the make believers to feed upon. That is the only way you can reconcile dual statements made upon the same subject, when one statement will always line up perfectly with the word of God. That is why those who catch the right revelation do not have to depend completely upon what someone else says, for they can go right to the Bible and find the vindication. We have proved from the Bible itself many times over and over, that there is still one full week of years to be fulfilled to the Jews of Daniel’s seventy weeks, but I feel that we can approach it from a little different angle, and publish it one more time, and maybe help some soul somewhere, that is seeking to know the truth of the matter.

A CALCULATION OF TIME

One thing I want to say right at the beginning, a right understanding of the seventy weeks of Daniel is not necessarily tied to a Holy Ghost revelation, for it can be traced out, through the pages of history after you once get the scriptural structure of it in your mind. It is simply a matter of calculating time. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24;15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (Saints: please notice, as you read this verse, that the next five words are in parenthesis, in your Bible. We are supposed to read certain things, and then understand them.) (WHOSO READETH, LET HIM UNDERSTAND.) (16) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains,” and so forth. The abomination of desolation referred to here, is that period of excessive hatred for the Jews, brought on by the Antichrist, when he moves into that holy place, in the middle of the seventieth week. You should take special notice to the fact that Jesus did not say, Whosoever prays a lot will understand, nor Whosoever fasts a little extra will understand; He simply intends for us to do a certain amount of studying from available material, on some things, and brother, that has to go beyond the mere statements of a mortal man. I will never forget, one night when I was talking with a certain young man he made this statement. “Bro. Jackson: I love you, but there are some things I just do not see like you do. It looks to be like there can only be 3 ½ years left, of the seventy weeks of Daniel.” I just though to myself, “Young man, what do you read? What brought you to that conclusion?” You hate to think that a young man like that would just accept a statement, or remark, and close his mind to anything further, that could shed more light upon a subject. Most of you young men out there, have a much better education than I do, and most all history books are consistent on the points that establish this subject, so why will you not avail yourselves of the opportunity to settle the matter in your own mind once and for all? I know the scripture that causes many of you to get hung up, when you approach this subject, and I intend to stress that point with special emphasis when we get to it; so please pray that God will help be say each thing in a way that can be easily understood, and then you take my remarks and do your own studying on the subject. Of course I also realize that there are some who could never care less about the seventy weeks of Daniel, but there are many who are interested, so this is for them, and I desire to make it an enjoyable subject.

GOD KEEPS TIME PERFECTLY

It is important that we know from the standpoint of the scriptures, why we believe there are yet seven full years left to be fulfilled of Daniel’s seventy weeks of years, therefore I want to give you certain points of information as we go along. The first is this, When the angel of the lord appeared to Daniel there in chapter 9, Daniel had been reading books. That is how he got hold of the information that caused him to set his face toward God in prayer for his people Israel. Then I want you to notice verse 24, where Gabriel began to speak to him concerning the matter of his interest. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Saints, listen to me now! Do not ever allow yourself to think that God would say, “seventy weeks,” and then just play around with 65½, or 74¾, or something close to seventy. When God says seventy weeks, He means seventh weeks; He is precise. When yo deal with other things, you can have an overlapping of this and that, but when God speaks concerning a time factor, He is precise. Over in the book of Revelation, when it says that the devil will be bound for a thousand years, and that the certain ones will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years, don’t allow yourself to even think that 997 years might be close enough; I tell you, God is precise on these things. You cannot give, nor take a year, it must be exactly what it says, and God is the one that keeps the time, so there will never be a mistake. When the thousand years are expired the devil will be loosed out f his prison, and allowed to test the Millennial subjects, and God will not wait three years and six months past the thousand years to loose him; it will be done immediately. That is why it is so foolish for men to wrestle with the scriptures, trying to make them fit a certain way they want to believe something. (You will understand later why I say that.) God keeps the time, and He will not change even the slightest little detail of what His word declares is yet to be.

70 WEEKS EQUALS 490 YEARS

I believe we are ready to begin reading in Daniel 9:1, which takes up the account in the year 538 B.D., just two years prior to the actual release of certain jews by King Cyrus to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. We are bringing this in, for the sole purpose of showing how precise God is when He is dealing with a time element, so let us read. (1) “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; (2) In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, (Praise God! The Jews were a people that really believed in keeping record of their events and happenings. That is what you are reading when you read Kings and Chronicles, a historical account of their kings, and happenings. The word Chronicle itself, means, to set in order. But what Daniel is reading is the writings of the prophet Jeremiah who is no longer in the picture, for he is already dead at this time. Daniel was carried away into Babylonian captivity, in the first invasion, in the year 607 B.D., by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, and while in captivity, he had been reading Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the length of time that the lord would allow them to be punished in this way, and knowing that the time had almost expired, he began to seek the face of God in the matter.) that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (You can read Jeremiah 25:11, and 29:10, if you want the exact prophecy that Daniel was referring to.) Daniel knew that he had been there almost seventh years already, and he felt that it was just about time for God to set in motion the next phase of Jeremiah’s prophecy. God was giving the land of Israel a rest, because those Jews had become so greedy for gain, they had failed to let the land rest from tilling one year out of every seven, according to the Levitical order given to Moses. While they were in captivity, the land of Israel was enjoying her sabbaths. By connecting certain scriptures together we find that Israel had actually gone on for 70 sabbaths without letting the land rest, so that really adds up to 490 years when you multiply 7 x 70. Therefore God is giving the land all of her neglected rest in one continuous period of time, and even though Daniel was taken into captivity in the year 607 B.D., when the final destruction was accomplished, and the Jewish temple lay in ruins. But Daniel, counting only the time of his own captivity, realized that he has been there in Babylon almost seventy years, and he becomes very concerned about what the Lord is going to do. That is when he begins to seek the face of God, and that brings us to verse 3, in the 9th chapter. (3) “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fastings and sackcloth, and ashes: (4) And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God.” (You can read those verses of his confession later, but right now we want to get on down to verse 20, where the angel of the Lord appeared to him.) (20) “And while I was speaking, and praying, and confession my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God: (21) Yea while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. (That would be as the sun was setting in the evening.) (22) And He informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” (We could go to Ezra 1:1-4, and read how God stirred the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, to build Him a house “temple” in Jerusalem, and see how the time worked out perfectly with the prophecy of Jeremiah, but you can read that later, for we must continue reading, here in Daniel 9, verse 23.) (23) “At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. (Notice now.) (24) Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” I will not use chalk board, because of those who will hear this on tape. We have to present it clearly for those who could not see our illustrations. But to you who will hear this on tape, or read it in the Contender, let me say this, We have to realize that when Jeremiah prophesied this captivity, and the children of Israel began to be carried away, they were to be penalized 70 years, all because they had failed to observe seventy sabbatic sabbaths whereby according to the law given to Moses, the land was to be tilled six years, and rested the seventh. God promised to give them an abundant crop the sixth year, so there would be plenty to carry them through the seventh, but they became greedy and failed to rest the land, and God allowed them to go on like that for 490 years before He judged them for it. There, sits a profile of how God deals with Israel in a numerical way so much of the time. There in Babylon in 538 B.D., just two years prior ro the actual release, God tells Daniel that seventy WEEKS are determined upon his people. (For what?) To finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in EVERLASTING righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Brothers and Sisters: When you break that down, that means that in exactly 490 years of prophetic time Jesus Christ is going to be on earth literally, to sit up His Millennial reign. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (30) And THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and THEN shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man (Jesus) coming in the clouds of heaven with POWER and GREAT GLORY.” That is absolutely to take place exactly at the end of this 490 years of prophetic time allotted to God’s dealing with the Jewish people in their land. Many people get the seventy years of Babylonian captivity mixed up with the seventy weeks of Daniel’s vision, but they are absolutely not the same. You will see as we continue reading this 9th chapter of Daniel, that God gave those Jews a perfect yardstick to measure time by, and if they had used it correctly, they would have known exactly when to expect their Messiah to appear on the scene. You just have to realize that it is a prophetic yardstick, and that being so, there is a broken interval of time between the 69th week and the seventieth week while the prophetic clock is stopped for the nation of Israel. That is the part this is so hard for a lot of people to understand. Naturally I am speaking of Gentiles that are so wrapped up in John 3:16, they simply cannot see anything else. But God means for the bride of Jesus Christ to understand these things before the end of Gentile time.

TWO SEPARATE DECREES

Alright now, we are showing this Cyrus decree that actually ended the seventy years of captivity for any Jew that wanted to go up to Jerusalem and work on the temple. God gave Daniel the vision and understanding of certain things in the year 538 B.D., and just two years later, when the full seventy years of captivity had expired, He moved upon Cyrus to set the plan in motion for their release. When you go to II Chronicles 36:22-23, you find where Cyrus the king, made a proclamation stating that the Lord God of heaven had given to him all the kingdoms of the earth, and that He had commanded him to build Him an house in Jerusalem. Then as you read the first chapter of Ezra, you find that the year is 536 B.C., and that it is the first year of the reign of Cyrus the great, and that he somehow knew that the Lord God of heaven had given him this kingdom to rule over. How do you suppose he knew all of this? I believe Daniel had been talking to him, Don’t you? It was Daniel, that helped him understand how much that temple meant to his own people that had by the year 536 B.C., been deprived of the use of it for seventy years. But it was God Himself that stirred the spirit of Cyrus to do something about it. Throughout his kingdom, went these words of Cyrus. Who is there among you of all His (God’s) people? (Jews) His God b with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, which is in Jerusalem. That released all the Jews that wanted to go. But remember, This was not the decree that started the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, this was the decree that ended the seventy years of captivity. From his own treasury Cyrus provided gold and silver for the Jews to take with them, but he also decreed that they should receive help from others throughout his kingdom. Ezra was not on the scene at this time; he stood out in the second great migration from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes, and was active with Nehemiah when the decree was given that activated the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy. But Ezra’s writings go all the way back, to pick up the account of the first decree, given by Cyrus, and brings it up to date at that time, and then Nehemiah picks up in the year 446 B.D., and deals with the period of time that covers the building of the wall and the city itself, and the commandment to do that is what started the prophetic clock ticking on the 70 WEEKS, which actually covers 490 years of prophetic time allotted to God’s dealing with the Jews, and of which, there is exactly one WEEK left, exactly SEVEN years. Not 3½, but 7 years, no matter how you calculate it.

PROPHETS ON THE SCENE

Now when the temple was rebuilt the first time, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were on the scene prophesying, while the temple was being constructed. That set a perfect type for what is ahead, for when the Millennial temple is being constructed, there will be two other Jewish prophets on the scene, prophesying. That will be the Moses and Elijah of Revelation 11:3-7, which will prophesy to Israel for a full 3½ years, which is the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. Brothers and Sisters: I am trying to go slow, and be specific with the points of this subject, that I feel should enable every true child of God to see clearly, what pertains to what. Some have wondered about the 91 years between 536 B.C., when the decree ended the 70 years of captivity and 445 B.C., when the decree came that activated the 70 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy. But you just have to realize that they are not related in any way to the prophetic years. Well, how about the fact that not all of the Jews left Babylon in 546 B.C.? Some will say, Saints, you just have to realize that from the time Cyrus gave the decree of release in 536 B.C., there was not a thing holding those who wanted to go, but by the same token, they were not forced to leave. It was the same way in 457 B.D., when Ezra led another bunch of them up to Jerusalem; there were a lot of them that were prospering where they were, so they chose to stay in Babylon. All this time Daniel’s prophecy is still lying there, yet to be fulfilled. Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning 70 years of captivity as a result of failing to keep the law of sabbatic sabbaths which was given on behalf of the land itself, had been fulfilled exactly. The time was not cut short to 68½ years, and neither was it stretched out to cover 71¾ years; it was exactly 70 years. Therefore, Daniel’s 70 WEEKS will be exactly 70 weeks of years. Not 69½, nor 70½, but exactly 70 weeks, (490 years) then Jesus will be on earth, to rule and reign. It is of utmost importance though, if we are going to understand this prophecy, that we see the three divisions of that seventy weeks, and realize that there is a two thousand year interval of Gentile time between the 69th and the 70th weeks are allotted for the completing of these certain things, and verse 25 begins to break it down into three categories, so let us read it slowly, and think about what we are reading.

SEVENTY PROPHETIC WEEKS START

Daniel 9, verse (25) “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build (what?) Jerusalem (Not the temple; it is already built.) Unto the Messiah the Prince (Jesus) shall be SEVEN WEEKS, and threescore and two weeks: and threescore and two weeks: (That is another SIXTY TWO WEEKS.) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” That covers a total of 69 WEEKS, when you add 7 weeks and 62 weeks together, and in just a few minutes, we are going to read verse 26, and see what happened at the end of that 62 week period. But right now, let us go to the 2nd chapter of Nehemiah, where we will see what led up to the decree that actually activated the 70 WEEKS prophecy. The year is 445 B.C., and Nehemiah, still in Babylon serving the king, has received word from some brethren that have returned from Jerusalem, that the city itself is still lying waste, the gates burned, and the people were suffering hardship and much affliction, and that made Nehemiah feel real bad, and it affected his countenance as he went about his duties as the king’s cupbearer. That brings us to Nehemiah chapter 2, where we will begin reading. (1) “And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. (2) Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, (3) And said unto the king, Let the King live forever: why should not my countenance be said, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” Nothing had been said in the 536 B.C., decree about building the city or anything else other than the temple, and 91 years had come and gone, and the city was still as it was, and that burdened Nehemiah. He no doubt felt that this would automatically have gone along with the rebuilding of the temple, but for some reason it was left as it was. God knew why, but Nehemiah did not know. (4) “Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. (5) And I said unto the King, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.” Certainly we all understand that no one man alone is going to build the city, but with proper authorization and authority from the king, he would be able to gather together the people that it would take to accomplish the work. Verse 6, “And the king said unto me,(the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the King to send me; and I set him a time. (7) Moreover I said unto the king, It if please the King, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; (8) And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.” A letter was given to Nehemiah according to his request, and that letter of authorization from the king, in the year 445 B.C., in the month of Nisan, was what set Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy in force. That points right to Daniel 9:25, which we have already read. But let me say this, The word week does not just apply to a period fo seven days as we normally use it. It applies to a period fo seven. It could be days, months, or years, but in this particular instance, the term applies to seven year periods of time, seventy weeks of years. The first division in these seventy weeks was a definite seven WEEKS, and that would cover the first 49 years of the prophecy, and would be from 445 B.C., until Malachi came on the scene. By the time Malachi came upon the scene, the revival spirit had worn off of those Jews, and they had already ceased to offer acceptable sacrifice unto the Lord, so He sent Malachi with a rebuke, and a promise. He rebuked them for their ways, and promised to send them Elijah the prophet to deal with the apostate spirit before the coming of the GREAT and DREADFUL day of the Lord. From there, time moved on, and even though there was a division in the weeks of prophecy, there was no broken gap of time between the first seven weeks and the next sixty two weeks. Let me remind you also, at this time, that history is recorded by the secular calendar which consists of 365¼ days to each year, and prophetic time is calculated by a 360 days to the year Hebrew calendar, so do not expect the recorded dates to match exactly with what we know to be accurate according to prophetic time. If you are looking at dates in your Bible, they may not correspond, for that reason. Nevertheless 7 WEEKS added together come to a total of 483 years that would expire between the time of the Nehemiah decree to build the city, and the time when the Messiah the Prince would be cut off. So when you take the 49 years (SEVEN WEEKS)of the first seven weeks from that total of 483 years, you have 434 years left, from Malachi to the crucifixion. Sometime during the early part of that last 34 years, Jesus was born, and when He was crucified, (you believe me) It was exactly 483 years from the start of that 70 WEEKS of years of Daniel’s prophecy, leaving exactly 7 years (one week) that God will yet deal with the nation of Israel, before Jesus returns bodily to rule on earth for a thousand years.

JEWS – BACK IN APOSTASY

Now just to point out the fact that God knows everything by His great foreknowledge, He knew that Israel would not be true to Him once they were restored back to their land; therefore He marked the time by giving a division in the first 69 weeks when He would have to send a prophet upon the scene with a rebuke for them. The first thing Nehemiah set about to do, was get the walls built, for he knew that people were not going to be very interested in building homes and shops, until they had a wall around the city to protect them from their enemies. Once the walls were completed, and the people gained a little feeling of safety, they entered into a period of clearing away rubbish so they could begin to rebuild the city. His strategy worked fine, and the day came when Jerusalem was once again a city of commerce and trade as well as the religious center for the whole land of Israel, but the great revival that took place in the early days of their return did not last. For by the time that Nehemiah had returned to Babylon as he had promised to do, and Ezra had passed from the scene, those Jews had already began drifting back into apostasy, and by the time that those first 49 years had expired, Israel was again in a pitiful shape spiritually. Malachi came on the scene with a strong rebuke, but after Malachi, Israel never had another prophet until John the Baptist. That left them without “Thus saith the Lord,” for almost 400 years, for Malachi prophesied between the year 400 B.C., and 397 B.D. In that little short prophecy though, is found one of the great prophecies of the Bible. Let us turn to Malachi 3:1, and read it. “Behold I will send my messenger (John) and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, (Their Messiah which was Jesus the Christ) shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” Let me hasten to say, that the covenant mentioned here is not to be associated with the covenant of Daniel 9:27. Jesus came with a covenant of eternal life for the house of Israel, just like Paul wrote in Hebrews 8:8, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Verse 10 finished my thought on that. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” The covenant in Daniel 9:27, is a peace covenant that the Antichrist will make with many, and especially with the political Jews of that hour, and that is the covenant that will be made for a one week (7 years) period of time, and then be broken in the middle of the week, or after 3½ years from the time it becomes effective. It will be an economic and political covenant that will give the world great hopes of peace and prosperity, just before she faces the darkest hour of all time, the great tribulation.

TRUE PRINCE CUT OFF

Let us go back to Daniel 9 now, and re-read verse 25, so we can be sure we get the straight through progression of the first 69 weeks, even though it is divided for emphasis, between the first 7 weeks, and the 62 weeks that follow. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, AND threescore and two weeks: (And, is a conjunction word that connects the two together, showing that there will be no broken gap between the seven weeks and the sixty two weeks, like there is between the sixty ninth and the seventieth week.) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” It truly was troublous times, but the work was finally completed, and by the time 49 years had expired, the people had fallen right back into an apostate state of mind, and God sent Malachi with a rebuke for them, Malachi 1:7, “Ye have offered polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?” He went on to remind them of how they had robbed Him, by withholding their tithes and offerings, and told them that they were cursed with a curse because of it. Malachi 3:14, “Ye have said, it is vain to serve God.” They were really in a pitiful shape after only 49 years from the actual decree that started the work on rebuilding the city, and it is interesting to note that Malachi was the last prophet God sent to them until it was time for John the Baptist to introduce the messenger of the new covenant that God had promised them. That left them 400 years without a prophet, all of which, is within the 62 week period of Daniel’s prophecy. Sixty two weeks of years adds up to a total of 434 years, and Jesus lived 33½ years, and was cut off, (crucified) and the year of His crucifixion is recorded in history as 33 A.D., so you can see that He had to be born sometime during the first part of that last 34 years of the 62 week period. For by the time He was cut off, God had worked conditions and circumstances around, so that exactly 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy had been fulfilled, leaving only one more week of years wherein He would deal specifically with Israel. But between that 69th and 70th week, you have the church agrees, two thousand years of time wherein the Gentiles have been given an opportunity to partake of the benefits of this glorious gospel of eternal life given first to the Jews. Alright now, notice the wording of verse 26, for this is where a lot of people are hung up right today. Instead of analyzing the actual wording of this verse, they just simply stop and assume something to be a fact that is not a fact at all. Daniel 9:26, “And AFTER threescore and two weeks (Saints, that literally means at the end of this 62 week period of time.) Shall Messiah, be cut off, but not for Himself.” A lot of people read that verse down to that point, stop, and begin to reason like this, Now Jesus ministered 3½ years, so the word after must mean that He was cut off in the middle of the seventieth week. How many of you actually understand what I am saying? You just simply do not interpret scripture by going backward; you interpret it by going forward. Jesus ministered 3½ years over here in the New Testament, but those Jews did not have that information to apply to this prophecy in the B.C. period. They had to take it for what it said, after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. In other words, this was a prophecy that could stand alone, without the knowledge of how long the Messiah would minister to that nation before He was cut off. Therefore the word after, definitely means, after the complete duration of the sixty two weeks that have followed straight on through from the seven weeks, the Messiah would be cut off, and it would be immediately after, not 3½ years after. This is “Thus saith the word of God!” Now I hope none of you will think that I am trying to be something more than what I am, but even if you do, truth is truth, no matter what people may think. Besides that, He was born precisely at a time that would make the types and shadows of the law coincide exactly with the time that He was to be crucified, buried, and then rise from the dead. Brother, do not try to tell me that God is not precise in every little detail. He knows that exact moment five hundred years from now, that the sun will rise over the Judaean hills. I will just have to say to a lot of preachers of this message, Preacher! You do not know the God you claim to be serving. If you did, you would know better than to play around with 3½ years. That is why I say, If the Jewish rabbis who had Daniel’s prophecy had been reading it correctly, they would have known within a space of time, when to expect their Messiah. Simeon and Anna were at the temple watching for Him. It just goes to show that they believed their prophets, and they believed them in the right way. What they believed did not cause them to have to step across the scriptures, it held them right in line with the scriptures. I am saying all of this to impress upon your minds the fact that Jesus the Messiah, the Prince of Daniel 9:25, was cut off immediately after the full sixty nine weeks had run their course, not 3½ years later, not 2 years later, nor 1 year, not even six months later, but absolutely immediately. Furthermore He was not cut off because of any wrong thing that He had done, for He was unlawfully condemned to death, by that bunch of holier-than-thou Jews, that could not see two feet in front of their faces spiritually, just like this spiritually blind character that branded Bro. Branham as a false prophet. To those Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus was a false prophet. They saw Him only as a troublemaker, always trying to stir up trouble. They looked upon Him as a perverter of everything that was right, simply because they themselves were blind as bats, and could not see where they were going. They read Daniel’s prophecy, but did not understand anything about it, for their Messiah had come to them exactly according to that prophecy, and they called Him a devil. What a bunch of hypocrites. Yet they were the spiritual leaders of their day. Brothers and Sisters: We are living in an hour just like that hour. The “supposed to be” spiritual leader of our day are just exactly like those Jews that condemned Jesus to death; if Jesus appeared on the scene today, they would do the very same thing.

A CERTAIN SEAT OF AUTHORITY

Let us finish reading verse 26 now. We read down to where the Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself. “And the people of the prince that SHALL COME shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” The prince in that verse is not Jesus the Messiah; it is a prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Now tell me, Who brought about that destruction? The Roman army, you say, and that is exactly right. All of history agrees upon that. Well then, Who is a prince of the Romans? Here is where a lot of arguments start. In the day that Jerusalem was destroyed, there was no such thing as a pope. There was no Roman catholic church in those days, but now there is, and the prince that shall come will be the pope that is in office when the last week of Daniel’s prophecy goes, and that un-measured time as far as Jewish prophecy goes, and that un-measured time has spanned more than 1900 years, and secular history has recorded every year of it, and that prince of verse 26, has not come yet, but true children of God know that he will come, and they know when he will come, (prophetically) and they know who he will be. That is, they know his office, and they know what he will do when he comes, because verse 27 tells us what he will do. Let us read it. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (7 years) and in the midst (middle) of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Now Saints: That verse will clear your mind if you will allow it to. There has never been any sacrifice and oblation since the time Titus and his Roman army destroyed the temple, and made Jerusalem a waste land. But when the seventieth week of Daniel goes into effect, those orthodox Jews will clear off that rock of Omar, and start offering sacrifice to God, according to the law of Moses, even before the temple itself is built. While that Millennial temple is being built there will be those two Jewish prophets of Revelation 11:3-7, prophesying to the nation, and orthodox Jews will be offering sacrifice upon the only altar that God will ever accept such sacrifice from, because the temple itself will not be built over the rock, as the Moslem mosque is, for the altar is to be in the outer court of the Jewish temple. As for the peace covenant with the Antichrist, there is an element of political Jews over there right now, that would sign such a peace pact in a minute of time. Mr. Begin would not sign it, but there are plenty that would. As for the identity of the Antichrist, I did not say that he would have to be a Roman by birth, but I am saying that he will be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. The men of the army that destroyed Jerusalem were not all Roman born, but the seat of authority over them was Roman. Old Nero the Roman emperor, sent Vespasian and his son Titus into Israel to quieten a civil disturbance, and one thing let to another, until the mass destruction was brought about. Therefore knowing that it was the Roman army that destroyed the city, and the sanctuary, verse 26, lets us know that the prince that is yet to come will have to be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. What other prince could that be, but the Roman Catholic Pope? He is the only man on earth today, that enjoys universal authority over people. The president of Italy does not enjoy the kind of influence over the people of all nations, that would cause them to look to him for the solution to world conflicts. The man who turns out to be the literal Antichrist will have to be a man that the nations look up to as a man that can be trusted, a man of wisdom, and a man of authority. Therefore the pope of Rome is the only man on earth, with authority from the same place as the army that destroyed Jerusalem. He actually sits in the same authoritative position as the old Roman emperors. People of all nations, no matter what color they may be, will bow down and kiss him feet. Saints: Do you understand what I have said? Do not look for the Antichrist to come from any place other than from that office, no matter what Jimmy Swaggart may say. Men like that cannot afford to tell you the truth, even if they knew it, for they would lose too much of their financial support. They might also have to suffer a little persecution along the way, if they start telling people the truth about these things. But nevertheless the people of this prince that is yet to come did destroy the city of Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, (the temple) and it was with a flood of persecution until the desolations were accomplished. Now, Did I say that Vespasian and Titus went there with a command to destroy the city? Absolutely not. God knew it, and he prophesied it through Daniel, but those Roman generals did not know that it would turn out that way. Alright then, let me ask you another question. Will the old pope of Rome know what he is going to do to those Jews in the middle of his seven year covenant of peace when he negotiates that great plan? Absolutely not. It will be the constant lambasting of those two prophets against him, and the way those spiritual Jews react to their ministry, that actually stirs up his wrath to the point where he will have them killed, and then begin an all out campaign of persecution against the Jews. Daniel and John wrote it all in the book, but those who fulfill the various parts of this prophecy are not doing it because they have read the script, and they are acting out their part; they are doing what they do because they were destined to do what they are doing, and the great foreknowledge of God just revealed it ahead of time. God will not have to force the pope to kill those two prophets in order to fulfill his word; the very spirit in him will just be reacting according to its true nature, and God will only have to work circumstances to where it will work out exactly in the middle of the week. Satan is the murderer, but God who is mightier than he, restrains him until the time is right. Satan would have killed Jesus, before He ever even performed His first miracle, but God withheld him until the proper time. That is why Jesus could say, My time is not yet fully come. Yet when His time did come, He knew it, and He went into the garden and kneeled down, and prayed, and after praying like any man would, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” He ended His prayer, “Not my will, but thine be done,” and surrendered to those that had come to arrest Him. Prophetically, what time did that occur? At exactly the end of 483 years from the time Nehemiah acquired the decree from King Artaxerxes to build the wall and the city. We are talking about prophetic years of 360 days each, naturally, so do not try to prove it by the use of a Julian calendar, for you will only have a little more than 478 years.

IDENTITY OF LITTLE HORN

As I have already said, The church ages come between verses 26 & 27, of the ninth chapter of Daniel. Therefore everything down through verse 26, is already behind us, leaving only verse 27, to cover the seventieth week that is yet ahead of where we are today. Israel is flying her own flag over Jerusalem again, and has been ever since June 1967, when she regained control of it, but Gentiles are still trying to tell her how to run her business. What most of them do not know, is that God Himself is calling the shots, and it is just about time for Him to send His two prophets, Moses and Elijah, to set that seventieth week in motion, and there is no way that Israel could give in to their demands, lest it upset the stage that is already set for that purpose. It is too late in time, for Israel to give up anything that she is supposed to have when that last week of time starts. Bro. Jackson: Do you really believe it is that close? I believe it is too close, for Israel to give up to the demands of world politicians and start all over again. I believe Ezekiel 38 & 39 is knocking right at our door. Isn’t that just to the Jews? Some will say. The prophecy is to the Jews, but every last one of us will be affected by the fulfillment of it, if we are still alive at that time. I believe that war will have such repercussions, that world politicians will rush to the peace table, and be willing to sign any kind of agreement that would offer them assurance that a thing like that would never happen again. That will put the old pope in the driver’s seat, and put him in a position to fulfill his role in Daniel’s prophecy. “HE shall confirm the covenant with MANY for one week.” The word HE, in verse 27, has to correspond with the LITTLE HORN of Daniel 7:8-26. That little horn was established through historical time, that brings it right up to our day, and it is in our day that it actually corresponds to the he, of Daniel 9:27. Daniel 12, and Revelation 13, fill in the rest of the necessary details for a proper understanding of his role, and the duration of it. In Daniel 12:6, when the question was asked, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” The answer came back, verse 7, “It shall be for a time, (one year) times, (two more years) and a half; (half a year) and when he (This is the same he, that we see in 9:27.) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, (Jews) all these things shall be finished.”

HORN-BEAST-POPE-ANTICHRIST-FALSE PROPHET

Now Saints, I am going to prove to you who will accept the Bible as the authority on these things, that the HE, of 9:27, and 12:7, is the Antichrist, and that the time, times, and half time, is 3½ prophetic years, and that it is 3½ years which start when the daily sacrifice and oblation is suddenly denied those Jews that have been worshiping God according to the law of Moses ever since the beginning of that week of time. We will have to go back to Daniel 7, to nail down Rome as the seat of authority for the Antichrist, and show what Daniel saw him doing to the saints of the most High. This is the same man that is referred to in other scriptures by various other titles; such as, The Little Horn, The Beast, The Antichrist, The False Prophet, and they are all titles that belong to the man who sits in the papal chair in Rome. Daniel is telling of a vision he had, in which he saw four great beasts come up from the sea. (The sea of people. We can prove that by scriptures such as Revelation 13:1, 17:1, 17:15.) Each beast was different from the others. The first was like a lion, and it had eagles wings. This beast represented the world empire of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. (See Daniel 2:37-38) The second beast was like a bear, and that represented the world empire of Media-Persia. The third beast was like a leopard, and that represented the world empire of Greece, under Alexander the great. Then in verse 7, Daniel says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (See Revelation 13:1, where John saw this same beast with ten horns, and verse 2 where it shows that all the power of those three beasts before it were swallowed up, and incorporated within its structure.) I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, (There is your pope, just keep that in mind.) Before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” We do now hate time to read all of this, but you should try to, later, in order to get the whole picture more clearly. Verse 17 shows that the four beasts were four kings, (or kingdoms) which shall arise out of the earth. But the one that really troubled Daniel was that fourth beast, and in verse 19, you find him asking the angel about it. He wanted to know especially, about that little horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. In verse 21, he says, “I beheld, and the same horn made ware with the saints, and prevailed against them; (for how long?) Until the Ancient of days came, (Jesus Christ, at the end of the seventieth week) and judgement was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Isn’t that exactly what we are looking for? Here is what the angel told Daniel in answer to his inquiry. Verse 23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, (Every school child knows that was Rome.) which shall be diverse (different) from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, (The old world) and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. (Notice verse 24 now.) “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; (That was the bishop of Rome working his way into the old caesars chair, and later became known as the pope of the “universal church.” and today, he is the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and his seas of authority is still Rome.) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak with great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand (How long?) Until a time and times and the diving of time.” In these verses, we see the ten kingdoms of the breakup of the old Roman imperial rulership, and the little horn (ecclesiastical horn) that worked his way right up through all those others, (Horn speaks of power.) until he eventually gained the supremacy over them all. There was never any greater power arose in Europe than the power of the papacy. When they talk about the Dark Ages, let them remember this, It was not the emperor of Rome that made it the Dark Ages, it came about through the maneuvering of the pope of Rome. Daniel was looking hundreds of years into the future in that vision where he saw all of this, but today, we can read most of it from our history books. History reveals how the pope of Rome subdued those three kings during those Dark Age years. What we have to remember, is that this is not the same man doing everything that Daniel saw that little horn doing. It is the same devil all the way through, but he has to work through whichever man happens to be sitting in the papal chair. Many popes have fulfilled their part of this vision, but there is yet one, that shall actually be the incarnate devil. He is the one that shall speak great words against the most High, (in the great tribulation time) and shall wear out the saints of the most High. He will make a decree, in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel, that will initiate a bloodbath for the Jews. That is when he shall accomplish to scatter the power of the holy people, when the spiritual element of that nation flees into their place of hiding, that the Lord has prepared for them, and Revelation 12:6 tells us exactly how long she will have to hide out in that place, a thousand two hundred and threescore days. That is exactly 3½ years of prophetic time.

GOD KEEPS THE TIME

Dear Brother, Dear Sister: It never ceases to amaze me, how so many preachers of this end time message can argue until they are blue in the face, that there is only 3½ years left, of that last week of Daniel, and all the time knowing that the Jews will have two prophets prophesying to them for 3½ years, in the land of Israel, and knowing also, that the woman (spiritual Israel, awakened by those two prophets) will flee into the wilderness for 3½ years, where she will hide out until the wrath of the Antichrist has been brought to its end by the visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It just goes to show, how they will walk right over the Bible, and hold on to a statement from a Spoken Word book. They would never take the time to sit down with their Bible, and the necessary history books, to trace this thing out. But I am here to tell you, that there is no possible way for you to stretch time far enough to get 486½ years of fulfilled prophetic time, starting with the Nehemiah decree. Even allowing for a little discrepancy in changing from B.C. time to A.D. time, you will still come up short. B.D. time ended with the death of King Herod, and A.D. time is calculated from the advent of Christ, (His birth) and we know from the gospels, that King Herod was still alive when Jesus was born, so that leaves a few years in there, that cannot be correlated precisely. We have to realize also, that A.D. time was not really set in motion until many years after the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Then when men did try to figure the time, and make a calendar, they have already updated it at least three times, and it still does not figure out right. I am certain, that with all the knowledge we have in this computer age, it could be done, but do you realize what the consequences would be? You cannot change all your history books over night. It would drive people crazy, if the calendar was updated at this point in time, for all history is recorded by the Roman calendar. When we printed the seventy weeks of Daniel article before, I knew the B.C. and A.D. were mixed up, right at point zero, therefore we just strictly calculated years of elapsed time, and pinpointed the birth of Christ at point zero as it should be, but that is not completely satisfactory, for it is a known fact that Jesus was born sometime prior ro the death of King Herod, and people get their thoughts mixed up when you start comparing solar time with prophetic time, and you lose their attention. But in order to show you that there is no possible way for you to come up with enough years to have Jesus crucified in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week, let us take the 445 years of B.C. solar time, when the Nehemiah decree went into effect, and add to it the 33½ years of the life of Christ, and we come up with a total of 478½ years of solar time. Then we will multiply that by 365½ days, to get the total number of days involved, and that comes to 174,772 days, and then you must divided that by 360 days to a prophetic year, and when you do that, you still have only 485½ years, and that still leaves you short of the necessary 486½ prophetic years that it would take to have Jesus crucified in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week. However, if you will accept the Bible for what it says, you will see that Jesus was cut off precisely at the end of the 69th week, and that leaves one full week to be fulfilled yet, which is seven years of 360 days each, and that works out perfectly with the 1260 days to flee from the wrath of the Antichrist and hide, from the time those prophets are killed. In the calculations we just did, you cannot even get 485½ years of actual time, for Nehemiah received that decree in the month Nisan, in the year 445 B.C. That would be part of March and part of April on your solar calendar, and actually, by the time you get it all calculated, you will find that you barely have 444 years of time, before the birth of Christ.. I hope this helps some misguided souls that have been bogged down in quotes, without a scriptural leg to stand on. For you simply cannot squeeze two 1260 day periods into 3½ years!

EXCERPTS

CALCULATING TIME

Now I want to explain something, and I hope you will follow closely and get the picture. We want to fix the cut off point in this 490 year prophecy that went into effect in the year 445 B.C. We must all see the same thing eventually, if we be the bride of Jesus Christ. He will not rapture a bride that has a dozen different versions of something that only has one version to it. I am using Jewish history because this prophecy is regulated by God’s dealing with the Jewish people, not Gentiles. Therefore let us settle our minds on the fact that somewhere before this whole 62 week period of time would come to a close, the Messiah would be born, and right here is where the great mixup in dates really causes trouble. Prophetically, we must fix the time of Malachi’s prophecy at around 400 B.C., for we have B.C. and A.D. time to deal with. All of us know that B.C. indicates time before the advent of Christ, and A.D. pertains to time, after the advent of Christ. Right? Therefore B.C. time stops where A.D. time begins, or vice versa, and the birth of Christ was the marker. Now the historians, the scholars who deal with such things, have tried to update the calendar so many times that they are fouled up, and hardly any of them can agree as to when Jesus was born. They start with where we are presently and figure backward, and they come out with ever so many different years that Jesus was born in, some as far back as 7 B.C., others 4 B.C., 3 B.C. and 1 B.C. But I want you to consider this, Jesus was born in the fall of the year. He had to be, in order to be 33½ years old in the month of Nisan which compares to part of March and part of April on our calendar. Are you following me? We all know He was crucified in the month Nisan, and that figures out to have been about April 6th or 8th, give or take a day. Alright now, His ministry lasted for about 3½ years. Is that not right? Now take that 3½ years back from the time He was crucified, and you will wind up in the fall of the year. He was baptized by John to begin His ministry, and the Bible says He was about 30 years old at that time. When you subtract 30 years from that time you will not be in the month of December. Neither will you be in March, nor April; you will be in the fall of the year. Right? That is why I say Jesus was born somewhere between the year 1 and 0 B.C. Think for just a moment now. If the year 1 B.C. started January 1, you would not stop the year the moment Jesus was born. If (for example) Jesus was born in the month of October, in the year 1 B.C., that year would still have to finish out, all the way through December 31, before you could start this year, 1 A.D. Are you still with me? Therefore in the year 1 A.D., in the month of October, He would have been 1 year old. You just have to remember that historical records are kept by a 365½ days to the year calendar, and prophecy is given according to a 360 days to the year calendar. This 490 years (70 weeks of years) that we are dealing with, is 490 prophetic years, consisting of 360 days each, not 365½ like you have on your solar calendar. Most historians will agree, that in ancient times, even the Egyptians, for a period, used a 360 day calendar. Many of the nations did. But they knew that the sun and the moon was out of balance, therefore, every so often, in the various nations that used this means, to calculate a year, 360 days, they would insert another month, this would occur every so often, this is absolutely the type of calendar that God gave the Israelites coming out of that Egyptian bondage, and the calendar that he gave them, started in the spring of the year. You read this in Exodus, and the first month of that year was called Abib. But after they went into Babylonian captivity, then they dropped the word Abib, and it took on the title, Nisan. Now right over here, is where they pick it up, while in Babylonian captivity. Nisan occurs in the spring of the year, and is related with the last part of March, and through the first part of April; that is when their month begins. That is when their religious calendar starts. Because it always dates back to the time when God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. Now, with this type of calendar, with this type of calculation, prophetic years, keep in mind, 360 days to the prophetic year, we will balance as we go along, but I want you to keep in mind, you’re dealing in the prophetic year, term, 360 days to that particular year. Therefore it lets me know, this is 490 prophetic years, not 490 solar years. Now how many in here know what solar year means? It means 365¼ days for the earth to make its totals traverse around the sun. This should tell a lot of people something. As I said before, evidently it happened in the flood, that the earth was pushed out of relationship to the sun, just far enough that it increased the rotation around the sun, this lengthened the whole journey, and this also brought the earth closer to the moon, which shortened the circumference of the moon’s rotation around the earth, while the two are together, going around the sun, and this shortened the lunar month, from actually 30 full days, to actually about 29½. Now, the Jewish calendar begins each month with a new moon. In actuality, if the universe today was in perfect balance, here is what you would have. In every year you would have 12 new moons. What is it, the pagans, even the ancient Indians kept records by? The moon. That is why you have always heard the old saying, many moons ago. It came from the Indians. Because there was in the knowledge of man, to keep time by the moon. He watched it rise from a new one, he watched it grow, and everything like that. Even the Orients today hold the lunar year, which means their whole year is measured by the rise of the new moon, and so forth, and that is exactly the calendar that God gave to Israel, in its prophetic relationship. Now, if everything was in perfect balance, the earth was with the sun, exactly the way it should be, and the moon the earth, we would have 12 lunar months, full 30 days each, and this would absolutely take out all confusion of time, and it would put 360 days each, and this would absolutely take out all confusion of time, and it would put 360 days, it would take that for the earth to go around the sun. And you know and I know, when you go to school, they will ask you, How many degrees are there in a circle? 360. I believe that God is the perfect mathematician. Don’t you? He has to be. He set the stars, now you could take all the other planetary bodies in space, they work perfect. Scientists can calculate exactly where Jupiter will be 100 years from now, because they know its route, its speed through space, and everything, and therefore, where it will be 100 years from now. Now that is the point we’re looking at. You must understand that the calendar we will be exploring here, is the prophetic calendar, but in doing so, it is necessary to use dates that are recorded in history by the Julian calendar. The important thing for you to understand from this message is not the dates that various things occurred, but rather, you should understand from what we show you, that from the going forth of the Nehemiah decree to restore and to build Jerusalem, right down to the time Jesus Christ the Messiah, was crucified, was exactly 483 prophetic years, which is exactly 69 weeks of the 70 weeks of time that we are dealing with. If you can just understand that there is yet one full week of prophetic time (7 years) left to the Jews, you will not be misled by these preachers who run around all over the world saying, that Jesus was cut off in the middle of the seventieth week. It was not Jesus cut off in the middle of that week, that we see there in Daniel 9:27; it will be the Jewish sacrifice and evening oblation that will be cut off by the Antichrist in the middle of that week which is yet ahead of where we are, that will fulfill Daniel 9:27. They do not even have such a thing now, but when that week truly does start, they will set up their altar and begin offering sacrifice to god, even while they are building the temple, just like they did when they were rebuilding the temple the first time. You read in Ezra 3:6, “From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not even yet laid.” That is exactly what they will do when they gain control of the temple grounds somewhere just out in front of where we are in time. Remember, God is the one who is watching over the time, and He is not checking out calendar to keep up with it either; He is going by His calendar that has never changed. Praise His name!

TWO PROPHETS DEMONSTRATING GOD

While the political leaders of many nations are sitting around their peace conference table, making a covenant with the Roman Catholic pope: something else is going to be taking place in that little land of Israel. Two Jewish prophets are going to step on the scene, and a great revival is going to break out. They will be demonstrating God just like Moses and Aaron did in the land of Egypt, and the true spiritual Jews will be having the time of their lives. Saints, do not think for one minute that the old peace loving pope will just ignore all of this. You can believe me; he will be watching the national news on television every night. What those two prophets do in that hour will draw more attention than the hostages in Iran ever did. Never have you seen the news media flock around anything, like they will them. They (the two prophets) will be standing in the streets of Jerusalem, warning those Jews not to have anything to do with the Antichrist which they will be revealing, and at the same time they will be revealing the true Prince of Peace to their brethren. They will be vindicating their ministry by calling down the plagues that you read about in the 8th chapter of Revelation. Believers will be receiving the Holy Ghost, and unbelievers will be partaking of the plagues. What a stir that is going to cause! The old pope will manage to bear it for a period of 3½ years, but by then it will be more than he can allow to go on any longer. He will be backed into a corner so to speak. Here he is, a man that is looked upon by the world as the great mouthpiece of God, and over there in Israel two men are demonstrating God in such a way that it is holding world attention. Where does that leave him? If he lets this go on, it will wreck his whole program. No doubt by then the Arab world will be having political repercussions that will be pulling on hi, so what is left for him to do? The old pope will pick up his sword and head for the land of Israel. Naturally his sword is his authority to call in international troops that will be at his complete disposal. They will fulfill Revelation 11:7, by killing those two prophets and the old pope will fulfill Daniel 11:45, “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas (between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) in the glorious hold mountain.” That could be no other place but right on Mt. Zion. Did not the apostle Paul say that he would sit himself in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God? He will demand worship, for by this time he will have been anointed by Satan to fulfill all that is written about him. His first attention will be directed to having those two prophets killed, and from there on out for the duration of his allotted time, he will fulfill at that Antiochus, Titus, and Judas typed. He is the god of gods in his own eyes, and he will serve the god of forces, the god of money, the god of power. He will still have a belief about God, but it will be such a warped belief, such a perverted belief that h will fulfill what Daniel wrote in chapter 11; he will not be serving the same god as his fathers, those who held the office of pope before him. Brothers and Sisters: I hope you are seeing how all these various scriptures fit together. None of this Bible was written in vain. It will help you if you will allow it to. But remember above all else, it is only that which you have by revelation that will hold you when the going gets rough. The Antichrist, the son of perdition is ordained to lead the unbelieving world to destruction, but to you who believe, let me say to you what Paul said to the Thessalonians. Let no man deceive you by any means, and do not be troubled in your spirit by all these various dates that certain individuals are pushing, for the day of our gathering together unto Christ will not come until this great falling away has run its course, and the man of sin, who is the son of perdition, the Antichrist has been revealed. When that peace covenant is signed and those two prophets step on the scene, then, and only then can you set dates for certain things to happen. At least we know from the scriptures how many days are allotted both to the two witnesses as well as the Antichrist. Each have 1260 days, and God Himself will keep the time on them.

AFTER THE SEVENTIETH WEEK

Let us look at another specific time element that Jesus established in Matthew 24:29. This follows right behind the 42nd month period of time that we have just been dealing with. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Now when He said, Immediately after the tribulation of those days; He did not mean 6 months later; He meant immediately, right then. That is what marks the end of that week of Daniel. That is what marks the end of the reign of the Antichrist. Notice that next verse, what follows that great power shaking event. (30) “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Saints! Pay attention to what I am going say! This scripture WAS NOT fulfilled in 1963, when the cloud of angels appeared to Bro. Branham. Those who believe it was, are still looking for the rapture, and the resurrection, and they believe the tribulation is still ahead of us. Would you please tell me how they hope to make that line up with the scriptures? If this scripture (Matthew 24:29-30) was fulfilled in 1963; then let us face facts; the rapture, the resurrection, and the great tribulation is already in the past, Jesus is in the Millennium with His saints, and we missed it all. Is that what you want to believe? I just talk like this to get your attention; every revelated person knows better than to believe those preachers who preach that. It does not take much revelation to see where a thing like that would put you. But these characters have the nerve to stand up and say, That Jackson does not preach what the prophet does. Yes I do! The only difference is, I preach it from the Bible, and they just quote, quote, quote, use the quotes out of context, and add their own private interpretation as to what the quotes mean. That is why so many of them are in false doctrine, and have their minds so clogged up, they could not even receive a true revelation if it was slapping them in the face. Brothers and Sisters: Please do not think that I am boasting; if it was not for the grace of God, there is no telling what I might be preaching today, for I sat right among them, and heard the same verbal words that Bro. Branham, that they did. I will say this, though, I have never found any reason to take what he said and twist it around trying to make it say something else.

-END OF EXCERPTS

PROPHECIES FOR THE WISE

From Daniel, chapter 7, we see without any doubt whatsoever, that the Antichrist will have to be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. We see, in chapter 9, that he is going to confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the midst (middle) of the week, he will break that covenant, and stop those orthodox Jews from offering up their daily sacrifice to God. Then in Daniel 12, we find that this one who breaks the covenant and begins in all out persecution of the Jews, is going to be allowed three and one half years of time, in which, he will kill and destroy, and exalt himself above all that is called holy. (This was Paul’s words, 2nd Thessalonians 2:4) When Daniel was told that this would go on for a time, times, and an half, and when he (the Antichrist) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the Holy people, ALL these things shall be finished, he said, I heard, but I understood not. Then he said, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? The angel replied, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the TIME OF THE END. (that is our day.) Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” That lets us know that this prophecy of Daniel was not supposed to be understood until the last generation before the return of Christ. (Naturally I am talking about the complete prophecy as it applies to the end.) Notice also, that the wicked were never meant to understand, but that the WISE shall understand. There is no doubt about it; the wise Gentile virgins, and the Jews that God is dealing with, shall understand. Now in verse 11, of the 12th chapter, the angel goes ahead speaking, and says,

“And from the time that the DAILY SACRIFICE shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, (That is absolutely the middle of the week.) There shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Saints, did you notice that the angel adds an extra 30 days to the thousand two hundred and threescore days we find in the other scriptures? Keep that in mind, and let us read verse 12, before we comment. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” There is another 45 days, making a total of 75 days more than the 1260 days allotted to the Antichrist. First let me explain who is blessed, and then we will talk about the extra days. Suppose we just read it like this, Blessed is the man that is still alive when 1335 days have passed, from the time the Antichrist breaks the covenant. Why? He is going to see his Messiah. Where? Physically, on earth, right in Jerusalem. That in no way pertains to the bride, for she is going to be with Jesus when He comes back to earth, just like Revelation 19 portrays it. This is a promise to the spiritual Jew, as he goes through that terrible dark hour of time. Another important thing we need to take note of, is the exact number of days that is mentioned. That shows that God will not let time run on to who knows when, once the thing is accomplished. He gives 1260 days to the two prophets, to prophesy, and 1260 days to the Antichrist to kill and destroy, and you can be absolutely sure that neither one will be cut short, nor stretched out, not even for one day. Alright then, what about those extra days in Daniel 12:11&12? That extra 75 days will cover the wrath of God that is poured out upon wicked mankind once the great tribulation has ran its course of 1260 days, and also the cleansing and sanctifying of the temple, after it has been defiled by this wicked man of sin. In other words, by the time 1335 days have transpired from the middle of the week, Jesus will have His Millennial reign set up, and blessed is everyone that remains alive to witness and be a part of that. Hallelujah! It just thrills my soul to see how clearly this word of God is laid out, for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. This blessedness is a promise to those spiritual Jews that will live through that great tribulation period, and step out into the Millennium, on the other side of it. The angel does not explain these extra days to Daniel, but by the Spirit of God, we know that they are days of time that will elapse while Armageddon is being wrapped up, and the temple cleansed and sanctified, and everything set in order for the Millennium. Brothers and Sisters: the prophecy of Daniel has been closed for centuries, and so has Revelation, but we are now in the days when they are no longer closed. Somebody has got to understand them, and you can rest assured, it will not be the tares, nor wicked mankind; it will only be the true people of God. “The WISE shall understand.” Saints, that does not apply to the wise of the world system; it only applies to those who are wise spiritually. There are no mathematical calculations, nor any scientific formulas that can get us out of here, out of this present world, and over to the other side. Only the grace of God can do that, and it will only be done for those that are spiritually wise, those who have walked with the Lord, by a spiritual revelation. Praise God! It is a wonderful day to be living in. The world is full of darkness and despair, but the children of God are not walking in darkness. Even while Daniel and Revelation were both sealed books, many were purified and made white, tried, and tested, just like the angel told Daniel they would be. They did not need to know those things that were sealed up until the end time. The wicked have always continued in their wickedness, but as the end draws near, wickedness in its true sense is getting worse and worse, and none of them shall understand. Understand what? How many rocks are on the moon? How to build a more sophisticated shuttle to the moon? No! How to look into the book of Daniel and tell how close we are, to the coming of Jesus Christ. That is what this yardstick is here for. It is basically for the Jews, but the Bride of Christ will also use that time measurement, as she prepares herself to meet her bridegroom. To the revelated Jews, it is God’s way of letting them know that time will not linger on, not even for one day, past those days that are recorded there. That is why Jesus could say, in Matthew 24, which we have already read, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: AND THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man (Jesus) in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of earth mourn, (Why will they mourn? Because He is coming in judgment and wrath, and all the armies of heaven will be with Him.) and they (wicked mankind) shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” These are the ones that mourn when they see Him. These are the ones that cry unto the rocks and mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Revelation 6:16) When that hour arrives, the armies of the world will be engages in that awful battle that so many have talked about down through the years of time, the battle of Armageddon, (Revelation 6:16) and Jesus will come from heaven with His great army, and fight against them all, and destroy them. That is when He cleanses the earth from all evil and wickedness, and chooses His Millennial subjects that will pass over, alive, in their natural bodies, to repopulate the earth.

THE FALSE PRINCE OF PEACE

Now, what about this covenant that the Antichrist is going to confirm with many for one week? It is definitely going to be a covenant of peace, prosperity, universal brotherhood and tranquility, which will cover economic, political, religious, and military conditions, and offer the world what she has been crying for. What is the cry of the world? “We are all one, Let us have world peace, Let us divide the wealth of the world, Let everyone do what he wants to do morally, and so forth.” Brother! The kind of peace these people are looking for, is never going to be a reality this side of the Millennium, and those who are crying the loudest for it, will never partake of it, for they will sell out to the Antichrist, accept his false peace conditions, and damn their souls forever, both Jews and Gentiles. God knew that there would be an element of Jews in the end time, that would be so blind spiritually, and so far astray from their Bible prophecies, that they would fall completely, for such a material outlet as the Antichrist will offer them. There are many Jews in the land of Israel right today, that are not even looking for a literal anointed Messiah which will be God incarnate. If you were to ask some of them what they believe about the Messiah, they would answers, Well, we believe that the Messiah can actually be an era of time, in which God moves upon society to bring about an age of prosperity, tranquility, and universal peace. In 1968, we had an opportunity to speak with a Jewish Rabbi, and we asked him what he thought about that kind of philosophy, and he replied, If I believed like that, I would be justified in saying that the Messiah could very well be an IBM machine, meaning, some mechanical, or electronic gadget programmed to run such an era of peace. In other words, fill it with information on what you desire, press a button, and just sit back and wait for the answer. The reason there are so many Jews thinking like that, is because they have nothing on their mind other than how to make their next million dollars. They are ready to sell out to the devil, in any scheme he presents to them, if it has a promise of material prosperity tied to it. Even in the Knessett right today, there are a lot of political leaders that are not in agreement with what Mr. Begin believes and stands for. They will sell out to the U.N., or any other peace structure in a minute of time, yet they call themselves Jews. It just lets us know, that they interpret everything from the scriptures, looking only toward a material end. They are of the sort that looked the Messiah in the face over 1900 years ago, and called Him a devil. That is why Jesus made the statement to them, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: (In other words, I am your Messiah, and you are too blind spiritually, to recognize me.) if another shall come in his own name, (meaning the Antichrist) him ye will receive.” That statement belongs to Daniel 9:27, the false prince of peace who will receive more honor from world politicians, than Jesus received from anyone in His first advent. If the pope had appeared on the scene instead of Jesus, those Scribes and Pharisees would have fell for his bait immediately, for what he will offer, is what those Jews were looking for. Even some of the disciples of Jesus, when they began to get the idea that He could be the Messiah, began to allow their minds to run off into thoughts of materialism. That is why the other of James and John came to Him, and requested that He would grant her two sons to sit, the one on one side, and the other on the other side of Him, in His kingdom. That is why His disciples asked Him, “Will you at this time, deliver the kingdom to Israel?” They were looking for a material kingdom, and a King that would lead them into a life of ease. But Jesus came to them with a covenant of eternal life, rather than a covenant of world peace and prosperity, and they rejected it. This was no surprise to God though, for He had already given Daniel this prophecy, more than 500 years before that, promising those political Jews exactly what they would be looking for in this end time, a prince that would offer them an economic covenant of peace and prosperity. If they had accepted the true Prince, there would have been no place for this false prince. But God knew they would reject Him, and God knew they would crucify Him after He had ministered exactly 3½ years, therefore before He was ever born, God allotted the same amount of time to the false prince of peace that would appear on the scene in his own name and deceive the whole world, except for revelated children of God.

KING OF FIERCE COUNTENANCE

Over in the 8th chapter of Daniel, verse 19, the angel said to Daniel, “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the LAST ENT of the indignation: for at the TIME APPOINTED the end shall be.” Then he just mentioned Media-Persia and Greece, and in verse 23, he got right to the one that would climax all abominations. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. (24) And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: (by the power os Satan.) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. (25) And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his own heart (That is what Paul was writing about in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, when he said, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.”) and by PEACE shall destroy many: he shall be broken without hand.” He will be broken by the sharp sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, when He comes in wrath, at the end of the great tribulation, taking vengeance upon all that know not God and have had pleasure in unrighteousness. Revelation 19:20 tells us that this false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone. That will be the end of this false prophet that has exalted himself in his own heart, and actually taken over the Jewish temple, and showed himself as God to the people. That is why the temple has to be cleansed and re-sanctified before the true Prince of Peace enters into if for His Millennial rule. This false prince is going to come on the scene with flatteries, according to the 11th chapter of Daniel. Do you know what that means? It means that he will be so subtle and shrewd in his political and economic overtures that he presents to the nations of the world, that those political leaders will actually sit back in awe. By flatteries and shrewd maneuvering, he will make it look like peace and prosperity is knocking at every door. Those political Jews that are not very spiritual in the first place, knowing only vaguely what is even written in the scriptures about the Jews returning to the land of Israel, will feel like this false prince is truly anointed of God to bring about their full restoration. What a surprise they are going to get just 3½ years later. But, Saints: You can easily see why anyone who is without a true revelation would fall for his plan. The world will be in a pitiful shape by then. Even people of the world are already talking about Armageddon. People that know absolutely nothing about the scriptures beyond the face that the great battle of Armageddon is to come. Don’t you think people like that will be ready to sign anything, in an effort to stay off such destruction? You know they will; and after they have signed the peace covenant, they will be so proud of themselves, because for 3½ years after that, everything will be just lovely in that way. That is why those two Jewish prophets in the land of Israel will draw so much world wide attention. They will be exposing that old man of sin that has disguised himself so completely. We can say it like that, but actually, there is no way for him to know that he is literally going to be incarnated by Satan, the very enemy of God, for he has not believed the scriptures that have revealed all of this to the true saints.

SPIRITUAL ISRAEL FLEES INTO WILDERNESS

Two thousand years ago God gave those Jews their true Messiah, and for 3½ years He was vindicated among them, declaring the whole counsel of who He was, and what He was doing, and when it came down to the question, What must I do with Jesus? They said, Crucify him! Give us Barabbas. Israel must pay for that. They had a chance to accept their Messiah in the flesh, and they rejected Him. They will never have that chance again. Those spiritual Jews will have to accept Him by a revelation of the scriptures, just like Gentiles have had to, and it will come about through the preaching and prophesying of the Moses and Elijah prophets of Revelation 11:3-7. On the way to the cross, Jesus said, “If they have done this in a green tree, what will it be in the barren tree?” Do you remember that parable? In other words, If they cannot recognize life in its season, what kind of fruit can they expect, when the barren tree comes on the scene? There will be no eternal life offered by him. The only eternal life being offered, will be offered by those two Jewish prophets, as they go about sealing the 144,000 servants of God, and as w just said, Only those who receive a spiritual revelation will partake of this true tree of life, for they will not have any flesh to hang on to in that day. That is the reason the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, “Henceforth know we Him no more after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” In these last days, God will lift the blindness from the eyes of those spiritual Jews, and they will be given the same capabilities of spiritual revelation, that we Gentiles have had. Gentiles received this Messiah having never seen Him, and those who saw Him, (Jews) rejected Him. But in the last half of that seventieth week of Daniel, (the great tribulation time) the Gentile foolish virgins, the 144,000 Jewish servants of God, and the woman of Revelation 12, (spiritual Israel) will all be on equal terms spiritually, for they will all be depending completely upon revelation. Jesus will not be here in the flesh, to lead any of them. The woman will flee into the wilderness to hide from the terror of that Antichrist army, simply on the strength of the prophecy given to her by her two prophets. It will be a place prepared for her by God, and revealed to her through her prophets. That is why Revelation 12:14 says, “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half a time,” (that is the same language the angel measured time by when he was speaking to Daniel, only in this case we can look right back to verse 6, and see that it is referred to in an exact number of days, 1260, no more, and no less.) But the two wings of a great eagle speaks of the two prophets that told her (or will tell her) when to flee, where to flee to, and how long she would have to stay there. You can verify that, by turning in your Bibles to Exodus 19:4, where the Lord is speaking to the children of Israel about how He brought them forth out of Egyptian bondage through the leadership of His prophet Moses, saying, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself.” Saints, scripture will reveal scripture, if we will allow the Holy Ghost to guide our thinking, and not be guilty of following some imagination of our mind. I realize Bro. Branham brought out certain things that made it sound like Jesus would be on earth literally, when those Jewish prophets are prophesying to Israel, but that just simply is not correct, for there is only one time that He is going to come back to earth literally, and when He does, it will be to rule and reign as King of kings. It is a fact that He is seen in angelic form, in Revelation chapter 10, where He is closing out Gentile time, and staring the last week of prophetic time for Israel, but He certainly will not be here in literal flesh doing that. Do you think Jesus would have said in vain, Upon this rock I will build my church, (meaning, the rock of revelation) if He was going to keep coming back in fleshly form, showing Himself as He did in His first advent? Peter had just received the revelation of who Jesus truly was, when he burst out, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus answered saying to him, Blessed art thou Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-17) That was His way of saying, Peter, even though you have walked with me in these days, it would be impossible for you to know that, unless it were revealed to you by the Spirit of God, the great eternal Spirit. You must remember, there were great multitudes that witnessed those miracles Jesus did, and that heard Him preach, but only a few of them ever really knew who He was, while He was among them bodily. That is why there was only 120 souls present in the upper room, when the Holy Ghost was sent back to indwell the church. Tell me now, Do you think people are any different today? If Jesus came back to earth in bodily form today, do you actually think He could say enough, and do enough miracles to convince anyone that He is the Son of God, unless they received a revelation by the eternal Spirit? Absolutely not! Even those two prophets will have to prophesy to Israel by a spiritual revelation, never having seen their Messiah literally. Praise God, for His consistency. You do not have to worry about Him changing His mind, and coming up with some new way for people to find salvation, just about the time we find the way that is already in effect. Hallelujah! The formula remains the same throughout all time. We either know Him by the Spirit, or we do not know Him at all.

A WORD TO THE WISE

Let me say a few words now, that I hope you will listen well to. We are at the end. There is no time left to play around with the scriptures. All that is prophesied in the Bible, to be fulfilled in the end time, is just before us. Unless God calls us home individually in the very near future, we are going to witness some anxious moments as time for the Gentiles closes out. A very great shaking is just ahead, and only those that have their souls anchored in a true revelation, will have any peace of mind at all. Natural security is crumbling to pieces, and more and more fear is taking hold of those who have put their trust in material assets. But no true child of God should be trusting in material possessions, for they can all be taken from you in a day’s time, and then you would have to trust God completely for everything you need. I am not just trying to be a prophet of doom, but the hour is late, and the time is at hand, that we should check up on ourselves, and get our revelation, and our daily living in line with the word of God. As I said earlier, We have published this message before, but I feel an urgency to get it before you one last time, in order that you, as children of God, may know where we are in the scope of Gentile time. If you are still just playing around with theories and quotes when God turns His attention back to Israel, it will be too late for you to set things in order then. All you can do then, is just suffer the consequences of your negligence. Sure there will be foolish virgins that will make it in, but they will only do so by giving their lives in martyrdom during the reign of the Antichrist, and I will tell you right now, they are not planning it that way. That is not a choice we have before us; it is strictly the mercy of God that has made that provision for many whose hearts are seeking after Him, but because of circumstances, time runs out before their revelation is brought up to a rapturing level. Yet all the time, they are expecting to be in the rapture when it does take place. Therefore let me say once again, There is ONE full week left to be fulfilled to Israel, of Daniel’s seventy weeks, the first half of which, God will give Israel one more change to accept their Messiah, but only on the merits of divine revelation imparted to them through the ministry of those two prophets of Revelation 11, the two olive trees of Zechariah 4, that will prophesy in Israel a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed sackcloth. God will vindicate their ministry by allowing them to shut up the heavens, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, turn the water to blood, and smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they see fit. But after they have prophesied for 3½ years, and all those believed that will believe, even they will be killed the evil beast, the Antichrist, and their dead bodies allowed to lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days, while the whole world looks on rejoicing. Of course we realize that by that time the bride will be gone to glory, and it will be this apostate, compromising, sick society of world population that will be rejoicing, and that will be before they see what the last half of that week holds for mankind at large. By the time the old Antichrist gets through with them, some of them will not be rejoicing any longer. Those three woes that are announced in Revelation 8:13, will literally turn hell loose on earth for 3½ years, and that is why it is called, The great tribulation. There has never been a time on earth like it, and there never will be again, when it is over, for Jesus will be on earth, to rule in righteousness for one thousand years, and the devil will be chained up, so it truly will be a blessed time for those that are left alive to live in that time. Praise God! Amen.

This is an open letter in rebuttal to a booklet submitted by Mr. A.W. Post and Mr. Tom Marshall entitled, “Branhamism, Fact or Fiction”. I am writing in defense of Bro. William Marrion Branham, who is deceased and gone on to be with the Lord.

There are four main subjects that Mr. Post attacks, apparently seeking to prove errors and heresy that he assumes Bro. Branham taught in his time and ministry. These four subjects are, “Predestination”, “The Serpent’s Seed”, “The End Time Prophet”, and “The Spoken Word Ministry”. I wish to express my regrets that a man would be so negative in his thinking that he would allow the enemy to project into his mind such unscriptural and unwise usage of scriptures in many places and blatant misquoting of facts in others to try to justify his own stand on these issues.

The first issue he attacks is Bro. Branham’s teaching on predestination. It happens that Bro. Branham was not the first man that ever taught this subject. It is true that in church history this side of the Dark Ages, predestination has been fought by most of the major trinitarian systems as a teaching that they deny. But, we are going to have to come to a clear understanding that the entire Bible was written by Jewish prophets and apostles inspired by God, and they were the first to teach predestination.

The verb predestination was spoken in the past tense and used by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:29 and 30; and in Ephesians 1:5 and 1:11. Mr. Post tried to explain and condense into a very short declaration the conclusion that in all four of these settings the Apostle Paul is referring to the Old Testament saints that were raised from the dead with the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 27. The man assumes that this was all only a past act of God, choosing some Old Testament saints to be conformable to the image of Jesus. Well, I believe according to the whole teaching of the New Testament, that it is the New Testament church that has the greater priority and is the great objective of God that was concealed in the Old Testament prophecies and the types and shadows of the Law. I believe that it is the church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles throughout the Age of Grace that is to attain to this image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we make a thorough study of the writings of the Apostle Paul, we find we must take the verb predestination, or predestinate, or predestinated and keep it with the noun foreknowledge; because, when we separate the verb from the noun, we can lose ourselves within our own carnal way of thinking. This is also true when we go to I Peter. The Apostle Peter did not use the word predestination, but he used the words, “chosen and elect”, which mean the same thing. When we see how the Apostle Peter used the term “chosen and elect” it is tied to the noun word, “foreknowledge”. I would like to remind Mr. Post, who I am sure is an educated man and knows his English well, that he has done the Apostle Paul a discredit in seeking to attack Bro. Branham. Thereby, when it’s all summed up, he has not only debased the Prophet presumptuously, he has actually belittled the Apostle Paul, who wrote the original scriptures declaring to the Christians of that day what a glorious and wonderful thing that the God of Heaven did in ages past, having foreknown us and chosen us in Christ according to Ephesians 1:4.

No wonder Paul could write Ephesians 1 like he did. I would like to remind Mr. Post that in Ephesians the first chapter the pronoun words that Paul used were “us and we”. Therefore, I cannot for the life of me see how we can take the pronoun words “us and we” and all of a sudden just wrap it up in the pronoun “them” that Paul uses in Romans 8:28-30. When Paul sums it all up in Romans 8:31 he said, “What shall we then say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us”. Can we not say today, that God is as much for us as he was for those Old Testament saints? I am sure that is not the thought of Paul at all in Romans 8:28-34. For instance, in verse 32 he says, “He that spared not His own son but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things”.

I am afraid that Mr. Post has taken it upon himself to do what many other men before him have done. When they come face to face with a truth in the Bible that their system will not accept, they’ve got to explain it away. But, oh the futile, weak things they grasp at to try to discredit the truth of God.

I want everyone who read this letter to never for one minute think the free will of man overrides the foreknowledge of God. No, my friend, never. God didn’t create an accident. God didn’t set something in motion and it got out of hand. When creation began to unfold, the Eternal Spirit, the Mighty Creator. the Omniscient, intelligent mind of God already had it settled, “for foreknown to Him all of His works from the foundation of the world”. When we can accept the fact that the great foreknowledge of God is what caused Him to write the Book of Life referred to in Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 17:8, we see not the word predestination, but we see the finished choice of God having already been accomplished and settled forever. My Bible says that God knows those that are His.

Every name of every person that will ever be found in glory in the great family of God was written in the great Book of Life before there was anything. That is why Jesus said in the book of John, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. And again He said, “No man can come to me except the Father draw him.”

Now to show the free moral agency of man, let us never forget God’s love and mercy as he expressed it through the open invitation, “Come, whosoever will, let Him come.” Again it says, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God knew exactly what man’s free will or free moral agency in his mentality and ability to accept or reject this invitation. I would like to remind the readers of this letter, true predestination is never to taught in a fanatical trend as some through the reformation period have taught it. That is why it has been a teaching of the New Testament fought so hard by those who want to hang onto the free moral agency of man. However, I have to go back and defend the great foreknowledge of God and His ability to make a choice and to reach a conclusion. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1 and worded it like this, “that God counseled after the council of His own will.” This meant that God meditated.

God didn’t have to scratch His head wondering what was going to be, He knew what man would do. He knew how man would act, therefore, He knew how to design man, where to put him, and when to put him. He knew exactly what generation and hour each man belonged in and how he would react. God didn’t, however, just up and make one man to be lost and another to saved. It would be foolish to say that He is that kind of cruel God. But when we can take it and go beyond and realize that His foreknowledge and His great omniscient mind could reach a conclusion and on the basis of that foreknowledge could design vessels of clay, one to honor and another to dishonor. He could put one up and He could put one down, and the vessel could never say, “Why hast thou made me thus?”

As Bro. Branham taught predestination, it is a beautiful doctrine. It sure takes it out of the hand of man and puts it back into the hand of the great architect who designed it before all time. He knew who would defend the truth and he knew who would not. Many are called, yes, but few are chosen. The word called in that respect was God’s merciful “whosoever will let Him come and take of the waters of life freely, but He knows that all will not accept the invitation”.

Another subject taught by Bro. Branham and belittled not only by you, Mr. Post, but by many other denominational leaders is the doctrine of the Serpent’s Seed. My reply in defense of that lay hidden in the scriptures. The very mention of the Serpent’s Seed sets the critics in motion, challenging its truthfulness. They try to portray how unscriptural this teaching is, how unbiblical and unreal. Yet, they in return, have nothing to prove in reality what this great transgression that occurred in the Garden of Eden was. They merely sum up the traditional story that Eve just ate some forbidden fruit of plant life causing God to impute sin.

It seems strange to me that if the great transgression was eating a piece of plant fruit, why God didn’t curse the digestive system of man. Why did he curse the reproductive system and cause sin to become a heredity factory passed on through every human being since that time? And then when redemption was brought about, it did not come by plant life at all. If the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden were plant life, why wasn’t the redeemer a tree or a branch off a tree of plant life. No, he was the substance of what that tree symbolized. He was redemption manifested in human form, God becoming incarnate in flesh.

So now, with this in mind, I would like to approach the subject in greater depth. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge were in no wise literal trees of plant life. It is true that they were described in the same verse of scripture wherein God planted a garden eastward in Eden. We have to realize first that this garden did have a geographical setting and dimension. The garden was in a certain area of the Middle East, lying between the Nile, the Tigres and the Euphrates Valleys. We know by history and the Bible that this is where the human race has been cradled through centuries of time.

I ask any critic to prove to me by the Bible that when God drove them from the Garden that they were driven out of the Middle East. The fact remains and archaeological discoveries prove that this is where civilization began. So, I am stating that when God drove Adam and Eve from what appears to be the Garden, they were not driven from a geographical location. Therefore, we will have to see the Garden not only from a geographical dimension, but also from a spiritual environment where God placed His divine presence.

These two trees that appear to be trees of plant life planted in relation to the other plant life trees were not trees in function from the earth’s substance at all. These were two figurative trees dealing with a basic law of right and wrong, true or false, good or bad. You might say that the Bible doesn’t prove that. Let’s just read on, because somewhere we’re going to have to read between the lines if we ever do get a revelation as to what really happened and from what they were driven.

The Tree of Life was not a tree of plant life at all. It was the true law way that Adam and Ever were to bring forth offspring. All trees bear fruit of their kind. Man has always been referred to as having a family tree. Every time you look at a genealogical picture of races and such, you always see it portrayed as a tree. Therefore, the two trees as we read in the scriptures stood in the midst of the garden, side by side. One was the right way and the other was the wrong way. And the Lord said, “The day that thou eatest thereof…” It’s true, he did say “eat”, but we must realize that this word eat can also be read, “to partake”, and partake can mean “to touch or handle”. If we are going to get hung up on the word eat, then what are we going to do when we come unto the Psalms where the writer states, “Taste of the Lord”? Does that mean that we literally take a bite out of the Lord to find out how he tastes? You know it doesn’t. That is figurative language and, therefore, I am confident that God inspired Moses to write this and conceal this great mystery in such language so man would not see the full picture until the time was right.

But, right here in the end-time God has brought forth the real true understanding of what went wrong. This is proven in the light of a modern age when men are trying through their scientific, atheistic and evolutionary knowledge to disprove the Bible as being the Word of God; to disprove the fact that man’s a sinner, to disprove the fact that there is a God; and to disprove man needs a redeemer. This proves to the elect of God, the real children of God the necessity for redemption to come the way it did and that the true Savior, the Jewish Messiah, was born of a virgin.

The next figure in this drama that we want to examine is the serpent. This creature was very much like man in all of his physical make-up. The original serpent, before his curse, would have been a part of the animal kingdom with an intelligence that would have been able to communicate with man. He would have been man’s servant. Adam, in the beginning, would never have gotten callouses on his hands. Adam was not made to till and toil in the earth. He was made to rule as an offspring of God, Therefore, Adam would have ruled in the beauty and splendor and glory and authority of his creator, and the serpent would have been his servant.

But the devil was allowed to inspire the serpent to become a tool for his evil plot against the creator, God himself. And so the serpent came to Eve and began to start up this conversation, and the conversation then led her not to eat an apple, not to eat any kind of fruit, but to partake of this act of relationship; not for the purpose of bringing forth life, but for pleasure. This is where fornication was first introduced to the human race. We realize that fornication, though an act committed for pleasure, can also bring forth offspring; yet not according to the divine perfect plan of the creator.

So, when Eve partook of it and saw that it was pleasurable, she went to Adam. I will have to say she did not entice Adam in one moment’s time. But in the process of time she convinced him that it was all right. Adam, we believe, was not ignorant of what he was doing. When Adam partook of it, he knew good and well he was doing something wrong.

Now, if it had been an apple or any kind of plant life, it’s very strange that immediately as they partake, they suddenly become aware of their nakedness. If that be a fact, then I believe that somewhere there ought to be some kind of plant life than man could eat today that would have the same kind of effect upon his intelligence and make him realize the wrong or the right of some of the things that the human race is doing today.

So, we can see there is a far greater depth here that we must consider rather than just stop with plant life. Therefore, when they saw they were naked, it wasn’t the fact that they could see each others face; it wasn’t the fact that they could see each others hands, their shoulders, their feet. It was absolutely the part of the body that they had been told, we will say, not to touch or handle in a pleasurable relationship. These parts of the body were only to be used to propagate life.

I remind you, Mr. Post, it might do you some good to study carefully the functioning of the animal kingdom, which is so much lower than man in intelligence and knowledge of what is sacred. You don’t see the animals behaving promiscuously like man does today. You don’t see the animals taking their sex life and making some kind of an entertaining program for the other animals. So, I believe we can take a lesson even from the animal kingdom and begin to see the picture. If the animal kingdom can live like it does (and they are a much lower form of life) then let’s elevate that to a much more sacred thing and bring it back to the first man and woman who were placed in the beautiful garden of God.

When they saw that they were naked, they realized it was the area of their body they have partaken of that caused this transgression. They did not have a revelation of what was going to make an atonement for this, so they immediately began to pull leaves off fig trees to cover themselves. They didn’t cover the mouth where they ate the apple, if that’s the case. They covered the area of their bodies by which they were eventually to reproduce themselves. They didn’t cover their face; they didn’t cover their feet; it was that part of their bodies they had used to transgress the law and will of God. In other words, once they partook of it, they knew right from wrong, good from bad, true from false. Therefore, now the time has come for God to come to the garden. His divine presence is moving toward that time of day for fellowship.

As God spoke out, “Adam, where art thou?” we see Adam coming forth from behind the trees. He’s not only covered by plant life, he’s hiding behind plant life. And immediately God asks him, “Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst eat?” Adam immediately passed the buck and said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.” The Lord looks at the woman and she says, “The serpent beguiled me….” So she passed the buck on down the line. The Lord didn’t look at the serpent and say well now what caused you to do this? The Lord immediately as he looked at the serpent said, “Thou are cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field…” In other words, he had stood as a creature at the head of the animal kingdom in intelligence, much as a man made in the image of God. Yet he was not the Son of God. He was a servant creature, a part of the animal kingdom. In actuality, he’s the missing link that the scientists and evolutionists are looking for today.

As the Lord cursed the serpent, before he went on his belly, before he lost his arms and legs; He says these words, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman…” Now that goes to show there’s going to be a variance, a hatred projected from Eve to that particular creature. For as she stood there no doubt trembling with the guilt of the divine presence of God now talking, she hears these words, “enmity, a difference, hatred”‘ and as she sees the serpent creature that has been a tool to get her into such a trap she sees him absolutely go on his belly, lose his identity, and become a crawling reptile among the rest of the reptiles of the animal kingdom. No matter where she was she could always see and identify that thing and hate it for having done to her what he had done.

But now we notice, the enmity was not just to stop between Eve and the serpent. The Lord said, “and between thy seed and her seed” Now, we know what the seed of the woman is in any case. It is her offspring. Well, if her seed is her offspring, what could the seed of the serpent be but also his offspring? Now, are we going to state then that it means all the little snakes he will produce after he has become a crawling reptile? Or does this refer to the seed that has been planted in the womb of Eve through his own conniving trick of introducing her to this sex act for pleasure? That’s the seed that God had in mind. Therefore, “it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” That was a prophecy spoken in figurative language which was not understood for centuries of time; but it was fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The bruising of the Serpent’s head and the bruising of the heel of the redeemer had nothing to do with man in his conflict with snakes or crawling reptiles. It is definitely a conflict that has been going on between man and the seed of the serpent projected into the stream of humanity. The devil was going to use that serpent strain to work against God, who would work through His strain of people.

So, let us leave this point of discussion and go on. What is the first part of the Bible called? It is called, “Genesis”. It might interest everyone to know that the word “Genesis” itself means “the history of the genes”. Therefore, even in that we can see that it is not a book about apples or peaches; it is a book that carries forth the history of the propagation of the human race. It all comes forth from the genes that started the human race, which came out of the loins of Adam. But somehow, there was a foreign gene inserted into the stream; and a great battle and conflict became manifested once they were driven from the garden.

Now we must come to an understanding of the episode described in Genesis, Chapter 6. Traditionalist Doctors of Divinity and all of the major theological seminaries have always interpreted the “Sons of God” mentioned here as fallen angels coming down to the daughters of men and taking unto themselves of all whatsoever they would. It also states in that chapter that there were giants born into the earth in that day. And also men of renown, men of worldly reputation, men who gained worldly acclaim, men who were looked upon, by the unbelieving kind of seed, as something important. Well, the world is filled with millions of that kind today. That’s why the world today goes for education, human carnal learning and intelligence, but without a knowledge of their need for God.

Now, if you want to criticize Bro. Branham’s teaching that God permitted the genes of an animal to become compatible with the genes of man, you’re going to have to give a better explanation then why you say He would allow the genes of angels to mix with man. In the first place, Jesus, when asked about marriage in eternity said, “For they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” In other word, angels do not reproduce themselves in that way. Therefore, I believe that we could say, if it’s impossible for the genes of the serpent to have been permitted by the creator to have become compatible with the genes of man, then so would it have been an impossibility for angels. If such a thing did happen, we would have to say then that these genes were not the genes of men at all, they were the genes of devils, fallen angels. So I ask you then, which would be the difference? Which would be more horrible? More fantastic? The genes of devils being allowed to produce these giants and these men of renown, or the seed of the serpent. I don’t believe that we are on a subject that’s so hard for sensible men with open minds to visualize.

Therefore, I believe that these traditionalist Doctors of Divinity who have interpreted the Sons of God in Genesis 6 to be angels are off course. The Sons of God in Genesis 6 were the true descendant line of Seth. Now to further substantiate this, my scriptures tell me that Enoch was the seventh from Adam. We know that by the prophecy that is written concerning the numerical record not passing through the lineage of Cain? But when we read the genealogy of Cain, after he went into the land of Nod, none of his offspring were ever recorded in the records of those accepted by God as being spiritual men having revelations from God. The whole record of that line is that they were inventors of evil things. From that line came polygamy and murder.

However, when we examine the genealogy of Enoch, we find he was the firstborn of Jared, and Jared was the firstborn of Mahalaleel and right on back to Seth. Cain is not listed as Adam’s firstborn, Seth is.

And the Bible says that when Seth was born, Eve said, “For God hath appointed me another seed.” She called him her seed. If Cain, who had left the area, was her true seed by her true husband, Adam, then somewhere Cain would have had to be recognized, because he would have been referred to as Adam’s firstborn. Cain is not Adam’s firstborn. He is the offspring of the seed of the serpent, resulting from the initial act introduced to Eve while they were both still in the Garden.

When Adam and Eve were sent from that place, yes, it does state that Adam knew Eve and she brought forth her son and said she had gotten a man from the Lord. Well, any child born, I don’t care under what relationship is brought into life by the creative law of God. But that doesn’t mean it is born under the direct will and plan of the creator. That’s why in the New Testament that a child born out of wedlock is referred to as a bastard. Now I ask you to take that further and analyze it very carefully. But as we deal with this seed aspect, when Eve said the Lord had appointed her another seed, then we notice that Seth was not necessarily the first born, but took the place of Adam’s first legal heir, Abel. It was Cain, the seed of the serpent that had slain Adam’s first born child, Abel. Therefore, Seth was appointed to take his place, making him the full heir. And from Seth’s hour straight on down, all other first born fell right in line.

The Bible says that in those days they, (men) called upon the Lord. It was Seth’s line who still held that spiritual quality of their father, Adam, and it was passed right on through each one’s son. Seth’s line, none of that line, until we come into Enoch’s day were perverters, inventors of evil things, murderers, polygamists, etc. They all, though their names are not mentioned, called on God because they had revelatory capacity.

It was only Cain’s line who didn’t have that revelatory capacity. None of them called on God, in the sense of salvation, or to serve Him, to glorify Him, to give Him honor. They were conscious of Him, they needed Him for protection and guidance, but no where is it written that they called on Him or had a revelation or understanding of the depth and of the will and plan of God.

When we come to Genesis, Chapter 6, we have a brief history of all that developed, from Enoch’s hour when he began to see that evil taking place, after men began to be multiplied. Cain’s line multiplied. Those women born under that line did not have convictions. They did not have the revelation how to walk virtuously. No, they were just like millions of women today, they have no convictions, no guilt, no shame. They would stand stark naked just to defy the laws of morality and decency. These same kind of women today would stand in the face of a virtuous, saintly woman and make fun of her. So we realize that Satan moved again on the scene. And as he was allowed to move on the scene, the Sons of God looked upon the daughters of men. Now I remind you, these Sons of God were not angels at all. There were still the sons of, the descendants of Adam, who was the Son of God. And these men were now being enticed by another Satanic flock through these seductive women portraying themselves in such a sensual way, as modern women are being inspired to do today.

That’s where, then, polygamy was introduced to the Sons’ of God. Because it says that they took unto themselves “wives” plural. Here polygamy was being used by the devil to get Cainite genes into the Sons of God line to degenerate and to debase them.

Now I am going to close this subject with this point. Which is worse, to teach the revelation of the Seed of the Serpent or to teach the Seed of Fallen Angels? No matter which way you want to sum this up and answer it, you’re going go have to acknowledge that in Genesis 6 there was a horrible, evil thing taking place that tore up the whole genetic structure of the human race.

No, don’t limit this to a small scale, that there were just a few giants in the land. I want you to know those giants and what they had done, these great intelligent men of renown. The genetic structure has been disturbed and there it was in the ark that Noah and his three sons and their wives were in. There it was in the loins of every one of those men, the diluted genes now of all that had transpired prior to the flood dispensation. Therefore, if you don’t like the revelation of the Serpents Seed, which we believe is what happened in the garden, then you will have to come to an acceptance that these Sons of God, supposedly being angels projecting themselves into human flesh, planted enough of their genetic seeds in those women to bring about a satanic purpose that definitely began to affect the whole genetic reproductive quality of mankind.

Even when the flood was over, giants still appeared on the earth. When, years later in time, the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt and went to the land of Canaan, what did they find? Giants. Did not the spies report to Moses, that they were just like grasshoppers in their sight? This was still a hereditary continuation of what had gone on prior to the flood. We must also realize that in certain strains of humanity, this gigantic gene just keeps turning up. Not only that, but we have intelligent wizards born in this world today. They become men of renown, but you can’t touch them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, for they have no revelatory quality to their thinking. No, they would rather count the rocks on the moon than to search for the revelation of the truth in God’s Word. They’re more interested in how this world got here than in how to bring their soul and life into line with the grace of God.

I have heretofore defended scripturally two of the great doctrines taught by Bro. Branham; but now I would like to defend the man, William Marrion Branham and his ministry, that of the End-Time Prophet.

It is evident that Mr. Post refutes the fact that the Bible teaches and holds a prophetic promise for a Malachi 4: 5 & 6 fulfillment for our day and time. Mr. Post refers to this scripture as having already been fulfilled in John the Baptist. Anyone can accept that because it is written in the Bible. Then he denied that it has an application for our day. He takes it completely away from our day and applies it to Revelation 11 as the spirit of one of the two prophets that would minister to the Jews.

Now John the Baptist was not a writing prophet, he was a revealing prophet. He was revealing scriptures that were pointing to the dispensation of Grace that was coming. He said that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and he was announcing One that was on the scene who would Baptist with the Holy Ghost and with fire. As Malachi put it, he was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Well, this Holy Ghost baptizer was definitely going to be the one that was going to administer the New Covenant to these children. Many of these children were old Judaistic dropouts, they were tired of the old traditions and rituals of their hour. I wonder how many times Peter and John and the rest of those fishermen really went to the temple and participated in all the rituals that were required in that day. But, nevertheless, when John the Baptist came on the scene, he was preaching such a message that all of Judea and Jerusalem went out to hear him and be baptized. So the children of that first advent setting were the recipients of the New Testament covenant of Grace. We can call it the New Birth, we can call it the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. It’s all summed up in the gospel that has been preached for the last two thousand years. It started with the Jews first and then was given to the Gentiles.

But now let us look at the second half of Malachi 4″6, “… and the heart of the children to their fathers”. The word their is a pronoun meaning the endtime children are a part of the same children in the first advent, those followers of Jesus. Therefore, it means this. That in the endtime he will send that spirit of Elijah again on another prophet. Not a writing prophet, No, because John was not a writing prophet; he was a preaching prophet. He will send it on another prophet for the endtime, closing out this age of Grace, because this same spirit on John the Baptist introduced this Age of Grace.

I have to say as I heard William Branham preach through the years, he was the first man this side of the dark ages who took the doctrine of faith that Luther taught, predestination that Knox brought, Eternal Security that Calvin brought, Sanctification that Wesley brought, right on into the Pentecostal Baptism of the Holy Ghost and tied them all together restoring accessibility and the display of the power of God. This had to be accomplished in the endtime to turn the children back to their Apostolic fathers.

Mr. Post, you state in your booklet that because this man did not shut the heavens that it didn’t rain, that he didn’t smite the earth with plagues and turn the water into blood; that this was proof that Bro. Branham had not the spirit of Elijah. May I remind you, Mr. Post, John the Baptist did none of those things. In fact, John did none of the miracles that Jesus or His apostles did. John the Baptist preached, and I remind you that the anointing that was on Elijah was that anointing of God that deals with apostasy. Remember, John came four hundred years after Malachi to deal with apostasy in his hour; because the Jews were stooped in tradition and mere theology. So, right here, at the end of the age of Grace, God found it necessary to again use that ministry. He used a man to take the truths that have been restored stage by stage, step by step, by the reformers and put them all back in the Bible to show the endtime children how to be true apostolic, born again, holy ghost filled, revelated saints like the early church – because they are part of them.

Like many people, I was brought up in a Methodist background, but I didn’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. When God dealt with me in such a way that I couldn’t resist submitting my life to Him any longer, I felt that great burden of guilt roll away. The Bible began to have a great attraction for me. I found myself sitting many times reading and asking God to help me to understand the contents of His Book. I knew nothing about divine healing, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, or any of the supernatural manifestations. I actually, as I read, thought all those things were for the days of the early church. This was my conclusion, that I was now a Methodist Christian, and I was getting ready to settle down in the little Methodist rut and chug along through life.

Then one day I was reading in Luke the first chapter where the angel of the Lord spoke to Zechariah telling him that his wife was going to bear a son. And the angel quoted this prophecy recorded in Malachi 4: 5 & 6. I didn’t know as much then as I do now, I wouldn’t have been able to defend my convictions; but God, by His Grace, let me know that if we are living in the last days before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in His second advent, then he would send that spirit of Elijah again to do in this religious world what he did in the old Judaistic religious order. That became a revelation to me. I’d look any man in the face and say you can’t take it away from me, because God put it there.

Well, a few months later in the year 1952, I was speaking to a relative of my wife’s. Unknown to me, this man was a Holy Ghost filled, believing Christian who attended the church of William Marrion Branham. He began to tell me about this man; about his meetings in South Africa and how the Lord spoke to him while he was baptizing converts in the Ohio River. When the man referred those words to me, as John the Baptist was sent to forerun His first coming, so would this man, William Marrion Branham, take a message that would go around the world that would prepare the way for the Lord’s second coming, inside something said then if that’s true, this must be that man.

A few nights later I was privileged to go and see this man. When I sat that night and heard that little man preach; I’d heard Doctors of Divinity, Theologians, Professors from various seminaries and Bible schools, but this little man made the Bible a living book right before my very eyes. When I walked out of that church that night, I knew that was the man.

Now I want to tell you, this man made Jesus of the bible stand head and shoulders taller than any Pope could ever make Him. He took Him out of the arms of the Virgin Mary as a little baby and you could see him walk the sandy shores of the Sea of Galilee. Yes, I remind you, Mr. Post, I, Raymond M. Jackson, was privileged to see this man and study him. Yes, he was uneducated. Yes, he was a Midwestern hillbilly. That’s why, when you read his booklets, which are printed verbatim right off the tapes, you want to belittle his speech. But when he was under the anointing, I remind you, he made God real. Books could be written, tracts could be printed, testimonies the world couldn’t contain from Africa, Canada, Mexico, Europe and all through the United States could be written of what people saw as they watched the power of God use this little man.

Now I also want to include here the defense of the Spoken Word Ministry. You criticize it, Mr. Post, as though there is no such thing. Well, I’m not in agreement with the way certain preachers in his following want to take his sermons and publicize them as though they are the spoken word of God. To me they are sermons, so don’t accuse me of giving them that type of identity. But, I defend the man’s ministry. It was truly a spoken Word Ministry. I’ve seen this man many times stand and challenge devils in sick minds. I’ve seen people come, filled with criticism, and before long their heads would bend and their eyes would fill with tears as he would tell them the secrets of their hearts. Yes, Mr. Post, this man has a Spoken Word Ministry, because whenever he said, “Thus saith the Lord” it would be.

Now I’m not defending anybody who wants to go around taking some mere statement calling it “Thus saith the Lord” and we have a lot of them. But I remind you, that in the Pentecostal hour you had your fanatics that brought reproach upon the truth you held. And you did your best to hold your head high and continue to defend the real truth. So I do not defend the fanatics of this following; but I defend the man, his spiritual image and character and the ministry and wonderful revelation and understanding he brought to a people who were sick and tired of denominational systems.

Now, Mr. Post, you have attacked a man of God and his ministry. You have belittled his teaching. You have your ideas of what happened, but I was there and I know. Which brings me to this illustration of your lack of true knowledge of the events of the years of Bro. Branham’s ministry.

On page 11 of your book, you say, and I quote, “Unfortunately, Mr. Branham was killed in an automobile accident and carried to the Faith Assembly Church in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where his followers waited for over a week for him to be raised from the dead.”

Now I remind you, Mr. Post, I am the Pastor of Faith Assembly Church. He was not carried back to my church and laid in state to be mourned over. He was brought back to Jeffersonville and laid in the Coots Funeral Home. I want to also remind you that it is true many of his followers did believe that he would be raised from the dead, but I am not defending what they assumed would be. I am defending the man himself, who never taught such a thing and would have screamed out against it. The man was grieved many times by watching the way people acted. I assume that you don’t detect those things as you would read and analyze some of his sermons because you don’t read them in the full context to see what he is saying. I happened to know the man personally and how he tried to defend his character and his honesty and sincerity in this. He was a man that was not ashamed of his calling.

Now, Mr. Post, you happen to be a great man in the United Pentecostal Church. A fellowship of a people very proud of their revelation of One God and water baptism in Jesus Name. You have every right to be proud, because your founding fathers, who broke the ranks of the old trinity pentecostal denomination in the early years at the turn of the century were persecuted when God gave them this great revelation. Yes, these men lost a lot of sleep, they went through agony, but they cherished that revelation of truth coming forth from the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I know the history. I know what your system stands for. You had a truth in your day, but now your system is on the same road as all the others, even the ones you came out of. You wrote your Articles of Faith and you put a period to it. If God is to do anything else, it has to come through your ranks. But I have my doubts anything else will come because you have put an end to revelation saying it is all restored and there is no more.

So I close my reply and my rebuttal to this booklet, “Branhamism, Fact and Fiction”. I am fully aware that many will read, but most will not take heed. Many will laugh and many will scorn, but eternity will bring to light the truth of it all. I am satisfied in what I heard and my heart rejoices. I therefore leave my defense for this man for the world to read and to do with as they will. As far as I am concerned, this man, William Marrion Branham, was truly a prophet from God. Yes, a man that definitely fulfilled the Malachi, Elijah spirit for our day. As a child of God, I truly thank Him for that spirit that was on that man so he could point me back to the Faith of my fathers, Peter, Paul, and John.

I DO NOT EXPECT EVERYONE WHO MAY HEAR OR READ THIS MESSAGE TO BE OVERJOYED BY WHAT WE WILL SAY, BUT I FEEL THAT AFTER 18 YEARS OF UTTER CONFUSION AMONG PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE FOLLOWING A MESSAGE OF TRUTH, SOMEONE NEEDS TO SAY SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP ESTABLISH THOSE WHO DO DESIRE TO FOLLOW A TRUE REVELATION. THEREFORE I COVET THE PRAYERS OF GOD’S TRUE CHILDREN, AS I ONCE AGAIN OPEN MY BIBLE TO MALACHI 4:5-6, TO READ A VERY FAMILIAR TEXT AS A FOUNDATION FOR WHAT WILL BE SAID. NATURALLY YOU WILL HEAR ME SAY MANY THINGS THAT I HAVE SAID BEFORE, BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, I BELIEVE YOU WILL HEAR SOME THINGS THAT WILL CAUSE YOU TO EXAMINE YOURSELVES, TO SEE IF YOU TRULY ARE FOLLOWING THE MESSAGE OF GOD’S 7TH CHURCH AGE MESSENGER.

ONE MORNING LATELY, I HAD BEEN PRAYING AND READING THE SCRIPTURES, AND HAD ALREADY CLOSED MY BIBLE, WHEN SOMETHING WITHIN SAID, “OPEN TO MALACHI 4, AND READ.” NOW WE HAVE ALL READ THOSE FAMILIAR SCRIPTURE VERSES MANY TIMES, AND MOST OF US COULD QUOTE THEM, BUT I OPENED MY BIBLE AND READ THEM AGAIN, AND WHEN I CAME OUT OF THE ROOM, I SAID TO MY WIFE, “HONEY, THERE IS A MESSAGE COMING TOGETHER WITHIN ME, THAT I MUST PREACH SHORTLY.” I COULD SEE HOW WE HAVE BEEN READING RIGHT OVER THE VERY BASIC TRUTH OF THOSE TWO LITTLE VERSES. WE HAVE SEEN THE ELIJAH FULFILLMENT OF BOTH PARTS OF IT, BUT WE HAVE FAILED TO EXAMINE THE CROP OF B-E-L-I-E-V-E-R-S, OR MAKE BELIEVERS THAT HAVE ATTACHED THEMSELVES TO THIS LAST DAY MOVE OF GOD. WHAT DID THAT ELIJAH MESSAGE PRODUCE? TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE? IT IS A VERY SHORT LITTLE SCRIPTURE, BUT THAT JUST LETS US SEE THAT GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO TALK ALL DAY TO GET SOMETHING SAID. SCHOLARS CAN WRITE VOLUMES FROM WHAT GOD SAYS IN ONLY A FEW SHORT WORDS. IN OTHER WORDS, ONLY THE HOLY GHOST CAN REVEAL THE DEPTH OF TRUTH THAT IS ACTUALLY HIDDEN IN THE WORD OF GOD WRITTEN BY HOLY MEN OF OLD INSPIRED BY GOD FOR THAT PURPOSE. MALACHI WAS THE LAST OLD TESTAMENT WRITING PROPHET ISRAEL EVER HAD, AND HE CLOSED HIS WRITINGS WITH THE WORDS WE ARE USING FOR OUR TEXT.

Let us read the scripture now, Mal. 4:5-6, and begin our message. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to THEIR fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” There are two things that stand out, both in the first, and the last advent. It is FATHERS, and CHILDREN, then CHILDREN, and FATHERS. I believe the best way to approach this subject though, is to see what God had prophesied even before this was to be fulfilled, concerning the man upon whom this spirit was to rest. But first of all we must settle something within our own heart and mind. Is this Bible we carry, the sole source of authoritative scripture, or are there many books, all equal in authority with the holy Bible? Much to Satan’s delight, there are a lot of people claiming to be following this message of truth, who hold many books equal with, or even above the Bible. These are those who stir up confusion everywhere they go, and Bro. Branham’s name suffers reproach because of it.

LONGSTANDING PROPHECIES FULFILLED

Let us look into the writing of Isaiah now, and read this prophecy that was recorded 700 years before Christ. Before Malachi, Isaiah looked down through the scope of time, in the Spirit, and prophesied these words, 40:3, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: (It sounds like someone is going to build a super highway right out through the desert, doesn’t it?) And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Brothers and Sisters: I hope you will notice that verse 5, in particular. It says, The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, but you have to realize that this is all tied to the voice of verse 8. It is those who are drawn to that VOICE, that will see the glory of the Lord together; not all flesh of all mankind. It is the voice, that does the preparing of the way, and not everyone will hear that voice. Furthermore, God gets in no hurry. It was 300 years between Isaiah and Malachi, and another 400 years before the actual prophesied event ever took place, and almost 2000 years more before Malachi 4:5&6, would be completely fulfilled. Let us read Malachi 3:1 now though, for we are laying stepping stones that should lead to a true revelation. What Isaiah called, a voice, Malachi called, a messenger. Notice now, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: (or look for) behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” That one verse spoke of two different messengers. The first was John the Baptist sent to prepare the way of the second which was Jesus the Christ. Jesus was the messenger of the covenant of grace that opened up the plan of salvation that included us Gentiles. We have been made partakers of all that was wrought at Calvary. That is what Paul was referring to in Ephesians 2:11-13, when he said, “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision in by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made right by the Blood of Christ.” In other words, Before the advent of Christ, the Jews had a way to approach God, but Gentiles did not. That is why Paul wrote those words; he was reminding them, that before Calvary, Gentiles were without hope in God, for the covenants of promise were only to the Jews. But now, Praise God! We all have access to God through the messenger of the covenant of grace, Jesus Christ. When Jesus was born, the spiritual state of the Jews who had the promises of God to look to, was just like the spiritual state of Gentiles today. There was one race of people, one little nation, all under the same covenant, yet they had ever so many different beliefs concerning the law of Moses, and that caused divisions among them, just like it is today, in the Gentile church world. They had the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which were the two major religious bodies. But they also had the Zealots, the Herodians, and the Essenes. The Pharisees were the most strict adherers to their interpretation of the law of Moses. They are the ones that enjoyed the great revival under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and those coming out of Babylonian captivity. You read how they built the platform, and would stand up, and read the word of God, and the people would weep and repent. It lets us see that God was seeking to restore them back to His word, and in that particular generation, there was a zealous fervor generated in that direction, but future generations did not have that same zeal. Oh yes, in the flesh, they perfected certain religious rituals, but spiritually they were cold. They had their own interpretation of the scriptures that spake of the Messiah which was to come, the Elijah, and the certain prophet which would be like Moses, and they loved to sit in their synagogues and read about them. They had a very strict view of what true holiness was according to the law, and they loved to be recognized as a holy people, but their holiness was external. That is why Jesus and John always had to rebuke them publicly. Externally, you could not lay a finger on their lives, for they exerted every effort to be looked upon as a holy people. Saul (the apostle Paul) was a Pharisee, and by his own testimony, according to their interpretation of the law, blameless. But he later said, All those things that were gain to me, I now count them loss for Christ. In other words, when you have the true Spirit of holiness in you, you do not have to work so hard to appear holy. True holiness just automatically shows up on the outside.

TRUE HOLINESS IS WITHIN

Sometimes I just get to thinking of what those carnal minded Jews did to true holiness, and then I cannot help but compare it to what religious systems are doing in our very age of time. Starting right with the Methodists, to the Nazarenes, to the Pilgrim Holiness, the Church of God, the Assemblies of God, Free Pentecost, Pentecostal Church of God, and right on up to the Jesus name Pentecostals, they have all done the same thing to true holiness; they have murdered it, and made themselves a holy shell to wear externally. They put it on, and they take it off at will, but if you break that shell, you will find underneath it, something that is as carnal and mean as the old nature itself. They are religious, but they know absolutely nothing about true holiness. They claim to believe the word of God, but the sad part is, many of them are just like the Jewish Sadducees. They do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, nor anything else of the supernatural. Some of these Church of Christ preachers have publicly offered a thousand dollars to anyone who would heal certain people of their ranks. No, they are not offering to pay for healing, a lot of people would gladly do that; they are just trying to convince poor unstable souls, that there is no such thing taking place in our day. They even claim that the baptism of the Holy Ghost was only for the apostles of Christ, and all miracles ceased when the apostles passed off the scene. I do not know why such people even bother to read the bible. What benefit could such unbelievers possibly receive from God? Surely they do not believe that they will ever enter into God’s eternal rest. Hell is awaiting all such as deny the very hope of true believers. These modern day Sadducees shall not escape the wrath of God, for they go to great extremes trying to destroy the simple faith of those who believe that the word of God means exactly what it says. We do not try to build our lives around the supernatural manifestations of the Spirit of God, but we most certainly do believe that God still uses supernatural means to accomplish certain things of His plan and purpose. We leave all of this to God’s sovereignty though, realizing that we have no right to demand supernatural manifestations in our daily walk with Him. Neither do we look upon ourselves as being so holy that we must hide out in a cave somewhere, to keep from being contaminated by the world. The Bible teaches us that God called us to be a light in the world. We are not to hide that light under a bushel, but rather let it shine as bright as possible in this old sin cursed world. These “so called” Christians that separate themselves completely from the world, are worse than a soldier that is AWOL from his post of duty. God cannot even talk to them. Any religious extreme will put you out of communication with the Lord. That is why God had to send that Elijah Spirit before the first advent of Christ; most of the Jewish society was so set in their ways, that it took some preparation ahead of time, in order that any of them would be in a condition to receive Christ. Oh, there were a few such as Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, and certain others, that God could talk to, but they were certainly in a minority category; they were not in the main stream or religion. God looked upon the humble attitude of Zacharias, and saw something in him that He could not see in the other priests of that hour. Therefore He sent Gabriel to him, to announce something that was getting ready to take place. When Zacharias went into the temple to burn incense, there stood Gabriel the angel of the Lord, at the right side of the altar of incense, and he was afraid. But the angel said to him, “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” He said some other things to Zacharias, but verse 17 carries the main thought of what we are dealing with. “And he shall go before Him (the Lord) in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah) to turn the hearts of the FATHERS to the CHILDREN.” Brothers and Sisters, please notice that Gabriel stopped quoting Malachi 4:6, right in the middle of the verse, and added a different statement, leaving the last half of verse 6, to be fulfilled by another man that would have that Elijah anointing upon him. Instead of saying, “And the heart of the CHILDREN to their FATHERS,” as Malachi did, Gabriel concluded his statement by saying, “And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Saints: There is a picture of the grace of God. He sent John out to get the attention of the people of his hour, both the religious as well as the sinners, and when a bunch of those publicans and harlots and other such sinners believed John’s message, repented, and was baptized, (Hallelujah!) They were justified before God. They were then, wise children, ready to walk with God, ready to enter into a new dispensation of time; for John’s ministry was before Calvary, and the New Covenant required the shedding of that innocent blood to put it into effect.

JOHN’S MINISTRY BEGINS

All right now, we have John the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth in the picture, a promised son, to an old couple that was childless up until then. God gave them a son, but they had to give him back to the Lord, for he had a work to do in the redemption plan of God, and when that work was finished, so would John’s life be finished, for King Herod had his head cut off just to please his wife, simply because John had said to him, It is not lawful for you to have her. But let us look at John for a few minutes, for I believe the picture of his life has been terribly distorted by your great theologians through the years. Most of them speak of him as though he grew up out in the wilderness alone. I cannot accept such a picture of his life. Of course, the Bibles tells us that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his Mother’s womb; therefore I do believe that God instructed him in many things as he grew up, but I also believe that he grew up, in the home of his parents, just like other boys did. He knew there was a work for him to do, and I believe he knew when the time was getting close, for that work to begin. I believe that is when he somehow just got to feeling like, I have just got to get alone for awhile. So he went down into the Jordan Valley, out into the wilderness, and when he reappeared, he was clothed with camel’s hair, and a leather skin, and eating nothing but locusts and wild honey, and he had the word of the Lord for those that went out to hear him preach. Now some of these Bible scholars have projected the idea that John joined himself to that bunch of Essene Jews, that lived down by the Dead Sea, but that theory will not stand the test, for John’s manner of life, and the way he dressed was completely opposite to them. They were vegetarians, and John liked those grasshopper legs. Actually, in my opinion, the only good thing those Essene Jews ever did was make copies of the scripture scrolls, and hide them in those caves where they remained until a few years ago, when a little Arab boy looking for his goat, came across them. But as I said earlier, those Essene Jews were two pious and holy, and self centered, to have anything to do with a wild looking character such as John. They lived in a holy shell, thinking that would put them in the will of God, but God had nothing to do with them. He just left them there in their little shell until the Roman army ripped it to pieces, and layed their camp waste. Now, do not misunderstand me. They were law abiding people. They were even stricter than the Pharisees; but they were a minority group, and many of their doctrines were completely contrary to the word of God. There was absolutely no marriage among those people, and if they managed to convert a family to their beliefs, they would break up that family in order to assure their celibacy. They also detested animal sacrifice at the temple, an ordinance of God. They were like a lot of people are today; they didn’t believe in killing anything, for any reason, so when you look at the whole picture, there was no way they were going to allow a character like John to lie down in one of their huts. He just simply did not match up with their holy standards. To most people, he probably looked like a wild man. But I assure you of one thing; he had a revelation, and he had a commission to preach it. Therefore when he stepped out into the midst of some people one day, preaching repentance, he was the voice of Isaiah 40, verse 3, the messenger of Malachi 3, verse 1-13, and the Elijah of Malachi 4, verse 5, to turn the heart of those religious Jewish fathers to the children. Now, did that mean that those fathers would repent, and follow the instructions of John as he prepared the way for the Lord Jesus to come on the scene? No. But their attention was centered upon what was taking place down there by the Jordan river. They either had to go themselves, or send someone, to find out just exactly what was taking place. Those that went themselves did not fool old John though, for he looked to a bunch of Pharisees and Sadducees one day and said to them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? You bring forth fruits that demonstrate repentance first. (That is not his exact words, but that is what he was referring to.) He said, Do not bother to say anything about Abraham being your father, for I say unto you, that God is able of those stones to raise up children unto Abraham. He didn’t stop there; he really got them told before he stopped. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Do you think John was speaking of the natural fruit trees that stood there? No. He was using that terminology to speak of those great ecclesiastical trees that stood so tall. They knew what he meant. This is all a part of preparing the way for the Lord. Isaiah referred to it as a highway in the desert, and we all know that when you build a highway, you have to take down some trees that stand in the way, so just give this a spiritual application, and you will see the kind of trees that had to be cut down to prepare the way for the Lord.

WHERE JOHN PREACHED

Now let me say this, John did not give to the children, the faith they were to have; he just introduced them to the One that would give them the foundation, and the faith. That is why John kept saying, I am not the one you are looking for, but He is coming, after me. John was not trying to be anything himself; he was only fulfilling something he was born to fulfill. He was a voice in the wilderness. Let me try to give you a little mental picture of the setting here. The summit of Mt. Zion in Jerusalem is 2700 feet above sea level, and when you leave there, going to where John was preaching and baptizing, you go down, down, down for about 16 to 18 miles winding around crooked roads which in John’s day were nothing more than caravan routes from Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley. By the time you reach the Jordan River you have descended approximately 4000 feet, for the Jordan Valley, or where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea is 1287 feet below sea level. Therefore we understand that John was not sent to literally build a natural highway over those mountain peaks from the Jordan Valley to Mt. Zion. He was building a spiritual highway in the hearts of some people. But how did he get the attention of the people? How did he get the first ones to come where he was? It is very simple; every stream of water always had (before bridges) a shallow place where it could be crossed by wading, or by ox cart, or whatever. That place was called the ford, meaning, a place where the river is crossable. The roads would always wind around through the terrain to that ford, and that is where old John went to begin his ministry. He would preach to the people as they crossed the river, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and he had the water right there, to baptize them. Now some would say, If the river was shallow, how could he baptize them? The Jordan was just like all other streams, in that way. You could have a shallow place where the water was only a few inches deep, and a few feet away it could be over your head. I guarantee you one thing, there were pools of water in the Jordan River that were deep enough to fulfill the purposes of God, and that is all that really matters. Furthermore, do not try to visualize a great crowd of people out there listening to John preach the first few days he was out there. In the beginning it was probably just one or two, or a half dozen at a time, but as they went on their way, and began to tell about him, that caused others to come, until people were coming from every direction to investigate this strange occurrence. Of course, there were a few Jews looking for John all along, for they knew what the angel had told Zacharias, but you have to remember, this is 30 years later. Many of those that knew first hand of the prophecy, had already passed from the scene in death. Nevertheless the Bible says that they went out to hear him from Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan. Among those who went to hear him, you could have heard many reasons why they came, but from among those that came, there were enough sincere ones to fulfill God’s purpose in it all. These truly repented, confessed their sins, and were baptized, and they looked for the One that John had said would come later. They were ready to receive Him, when He came. That is why John’s disciples came to him one day, and said, (John 3:26) “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.” Did that disturb John? Absolutely not; it pleased him. He knew his purpose had been fulfilled. Notice how he answered them. “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.” He showed no jealousy, nor disappointment, as you might find among preachers in our day. He was glad to know that the Messiah was on the scene for he looked for Him too.

EFFECTS OF JOHN’S PREACHING

I have stressed a certain point in other messages, that I also want to stress in this one. Jesus was not born, the incarnate God. He was the Son of God. He was perfect in every way, but for the first 30 years of His life, He was just that. He only became the incarnate God after He came to John to be baptized of him. When He came up out of the water, and the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and remained, He was then, the incarnate God. The Father was then in Him, but not before. Naturally some will say, But the angel appeared to the shepherds and told them, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” What about that? You have to realize that in the mind of God every prophecy is as a finished thing. Everything was spoken from the positive point of view, for with God, there is no doubt, nor hope so. It is just like Isaiah 9:6. Many who read that verse immediately apply all those titles to the little baby Jesus, when actually He was 30 years old before they were rightfully applied to Him. Nevertheless we have John at the river preaching, and baptizing repentant sinners, and this strange occurrence has caught the attention of the Jewish religious leaders in the headquarters at Jerusalem. The temple was at Jerusalem. All the records were kept at Jerusalem, and that is where the fathers were, the fathers that Malachi had spoken of some 400 years before. Now just exactly who were these fathers? Saints, you must see them from the standpoint of their spiritual identity. They were not just some Jewish men who had some sons. They were Scribes, priests, and elders who stood in the ranks of the multitude, but were spiritual overseers and guides to the rest of them. There is no genetic relationship included in the term fathers, as we see it used in these scriptures. Stephen used the term, and so did Paul. Men, brethren, and fathers, was the way both of these men opened up their defense before the Jews that questioned them. It was a term ascribed to a man in office. Therefore let us continue now, and see what effect John’s preaching had on those fathers. We have to look at these scriptures very closely to get the true picture of what Malachi’s prophecy covered. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children.” That is as far as John fulfilled this scripture, so we will hold the rest of that verse 6, for the proper time. We just want to think at this time, about what the first part of this verse really amounted to. First though, let me say this, many of those Jews that looked for Elijah, failed to understand that it was only the Elijah anointing that God was going to send. This anointing always dealt with apostasy. It was a God identifying spirit that always led men to repentance from out of apostasy. But let us look at the words heart, and fathers. We all know that the physical heart in man is only an organ that pumps the blood of life through the physical body, so it is not turned to anything. But on the other hand, have you ever heard anything with your ears, that just seemed to have a quickening effect within your innermost being? I am sure you all have at one time or another. I am also reasonably sure that you have experienced the opposite of that. You would hear something that would cause a little feeling of fear or fright within you, something of a negative nature. Either way though, you hear it with your natural ears first, and your mind must then decide whether it is of a benefit to you or not. In other words, your mind is like a transmitter, transmitting something that your whole being is affected by, and that is why those Judiastic fathers reacted as they did. I believe you are beginning to see what John’s preaching did to those old Judiastic fathers. For hundreds of years they had been on the same old repetitional merry go round, spiritually speaking, and all the time they were getting farther and farther away from God with their traditions, and their interpretations of the scrolls. But then word came to them, that there was a wild man down by the river, preaching about the kingdom of God. This caused their ears to prick up. What they were hearing was not necessarily a joyful report on their part, for they would first of all, question the authority of any man who would do what John was doing. Naturally the most prominent ones hesitated to go themselves, to investigate, but they did not hesitate to send others of their number to stand in the crowd as spies. Day after day, John stood at his post of duty down by the Jordan, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (The writers did not give the full text of John’s sermons, but I am sure he had many things to say to those who came out to hear him; good news for some, and rebuke for others.) As time passed, and the news spread, they were coming by the droves, and John was baptizing them right and left, as they repented and confessed their sins. Now, who was being baptized? It was not the fathers, yet. It was the down and out class of Jewish society. Spiritual dropouts, you might say. Jesus spoke of how publicans, harlots, and sinners believed John’s preaching, repented, and was baptized, and entered into the kingdom, and said to those others, But you are left without.

A HIGHWAY FOR THE LORD

We do not want to leave you with the idea that only prostitutes and that class of people came to John for baptism, but we do need to realize that it was not the Judiastic fathers that first came to him. It was the down and outers, that had just about lost all hope, spiritually speaking. Because of apostasy, spiritual death had set in, so God made the first move. (He always makes the first move.) He sent John with a message to restore something, and that something was spiritual reality, and hope in God. I can just see a lot of those poor souls, as they stood there with tears streaming down their cheeks, waiting for their turn to be baptized. John built that highway for the Lord while standing right there in the old Jordan River. It did not matter how high, nor how low they were, according to man’s standards, nor how crooked their lives were before. When John raised them out of the water, the high ones were made low, the low ones were elevated, and the crooked lives were straightened out. That is how the mountains and hills were made low, and the valleys lifted up, and the crooked made straight. It was a highway in the hearts of repentant sinners, where the Lord would have full right of way. God was not coming down, to ride up and down a highway from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea; He was coming to dwell in the hearts of a people that had been made ready to receive Him. Who were they? They were the children of Malachi 4:6. It is true that they were the children genetically, of that Jewish society, but that is not what gives them that identity in Malachi’s prophecy. Their Malachi identity, is that they were going to be children of God. Potentially they already were, in the mind of God, but the manifestation of it came about there at the Jordan River. Now John did not make them children, but he prepared the way for them to become children of God, and they came from far and near; it was not just a little group of local people from the immediate vicinity. That is what got the attention of the fathers. They just had to find out what was really taking place down there. Up until this time, John had been elevating the valleys, and straightening out the crooked places, but when those Judiastic fathers began to come into the crowd, he started blasting the tops off of the those mountains. With one huge blast he brought down a bunch of them; “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” In the churches of what the world looks upon as Christianity, they take plenty of time to honor those religious big shots. We will have Dr. So and So to read some scripture, and Bishop This and That to lead us in prayer, and all such like, but John could not have cared less about honoring anyone but God. Therefore He said also, “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance; and think not to say within yourselves, (Be sure you get this point here.) We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” John knew that because of their natural heritage, these Jewish fathers were depending on the fact that they could say, We are Abraham’s seed. We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We keep the law of Moses. But who are you? I’m just a voice. Hallelujah! The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. You hear the same spirit speaking in our day. I have heard people say, My mother was a saintly old Methodist, and so was my grandmother. Therefore I was born a Methodist, and I will die a Methodist. What was good enough for them is good enough for me. Listen to me, people, No born again child of God will say that, for we know that God does not judge us, nor favor us, just because our parents were a certain way. This is an individual walk with God. Your genetical background does not mean anything to God, as far as your soul’s salvation is concerned. Yes, those fathers came out to look John over, believing all along that they were children of God, just because they could trace their heritage back to Abraham to whom God promised a blessing to him and his seed after him. Saints, do not ever forget what the scriptures say about Abraham; He believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, and that is the only was any of us can stand before God, righteous simply by believing His word. We do not inherit righteousness from our parents, and neither do we earn it by any of our works; it is imputed to us when we believe properly. Not just any old man made doctrine, but the revelated word of God. So John called those big shot religious leaders exactly what they were, a generation of vipers. They did not know the first thing about the new covenant that was ready to be put into effect. Only those that were truly repenting, and being baptized, would be receivers of that new covenant. The only way any of those Judiastic fathers could ever become children of God, was to repent, and be baptized, for just simply being able to say, We are children of Abraham, would no longer be looked upon as having any spiritual benefit. There was a day when God would honor them as believers, if they wrote the law upon little emblems, and hung it on the door posts, and so forth, so they could see it both going in and coming out of their homes, and they honored it as God had instructed them to do. But here is a new dispensation coming into effect, with a new covenant that will replace the old one, and now God will only honor it. Notice what Paul wrote to the Hebrews about it, chapter 8; verses 6-13. We will not read it all now, but you can later. In verse 6, he speaks of how Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” On down farther we read, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” Now, notice verse 13. “In that he saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first one old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” In other words, God took His law down from the door posts, and was putting it in through the door of man’s heart into his innermost being. But it has to pass through the mind before the heart can receive it, and that is what God was preparing this lower class of people for. They were to be the children of the new covenant, when the old covenant was cut off completely. What do you think John meant when he said, God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham? He was talking about revelation faith from among those stony hearts.

CHILDREN FIRST – FATHERS LATER ON

Now, coming back to Matt. 3:10, let us watch John cut down that old family tree that was so precious to those religious fathers. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” That was like saying to them, You have trusted in your Jewish racial heritage until now, but God is going to cut that old family tree down, and from now on, only those who come through the baptism of the Holy Ghost will be children of God, and there is only one way to do that; you have to repent, and be baptized in water. Of course we understand that John was not the Holy Ghost baptizer, he was just the forerunner of the one who would do that. This is the reason he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” But that is not all that He would do, for, listen to that next verse, Matt. 3:12, speaking of this one who is coming after John. “Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” This was John’s way of saying, I am not establishing the faith. I am not making a new covenant with you; I am simply announcing that the time is at hand for God to do it. John was not seeking to make a name for himself; he was only fulfilling something that God had raised him up to do. Now that did not keep some of John’s followers from trying to make him something more than what he was, but John himself did only what he was anointed to do. Those religious fathers who had always been in charge of every religious activity resented John, and resented what he was saying. No, let me rephrase that. They hated John, and they hated what he was saying even more, but there were some tender buds standing there, that would soon spring forth into life, taking the place of those trees that were being cut down. They did not know that, but God knew it. God knew what was going to be said that day, even before He ever created the world. Therefore to those Jewish fathers John was saying, Until now, you have read Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Psalms, and all the law of Moses and you have twisted everything to fit into your traditions, but from this day on, you will have to submit yourselves to God in a different way in order to be accepted to Him. Did they do it, you may say? No, because they had another spirit on them. It was not the Spirit of Jehovah that had led them into all those religious traditions. It was not the Spirit of Jehovah that caused them to have murder in their hearts. They washed their feet and hands, and went through all those Levitical purification exercises, but their hearts were far from the God that gave those laws, therefore their religion was vain. They had clean hands and feet, clean pots and pans, and they said all the right things, but God was looking for some people whose hearts could be made clean also, and those fathers were too proud of their traditions and accomplishments to humble themselves, so they rejected God’s new covenant, and pronounced their own destination by doing so. That left the way clear for God to raise up some other men who would one day be looked upon as fathers, but first, they would be “the children” of Malachi 4:6, in the first advent of Jesus Christ. The only one of those fathers that we have any reason to believe might have been counted among the children, was Nicodemus, the Pharisee that came to Jesus at night, to avoid being seen by the other fathers. That in itself showed the pride of those Judiastic fathers. They loved being referred to as Dr. So and So, Rabbi So and So, and all of that, and you believe me, Saints: Religion is full of that sort still today, but not true Christianity. We are living in a new era of time. God will never call another young man to enroll in a Bible school to study theology. As a matter of fact, God has never called anyone to do that, but I will have to say, We have passed through an era when God worked through such men, allowing some of them to be carriers of certain Bible truths that were to be restored to His true body of believers in due time. This gospel did not start out being preached by the great learned men of that first age, and it will not end up being preached by that kind either.

GOD WORKS IN SIMPLICITY

Let me read you a few verses from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, and we will see what he had to say about the wisdom of learned men. (1:19) “For it is written. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed.” The preaching that gets men saved is something more than just a bunch of theories hatched out in a seminary someplace. Divine revelation is not something that can be published in three, or six month courses, and sold for so many dollars. It is free to all who will receive it, and it is preached by some of the most uneducated men upon the face of the earth, and no matter who preaches it, nor how much anointing they have, it still takes the Holy Ghost to make it a revelation to you. Notice verse 26. “For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” Why did God choose to work through such simplicity? Verse 29, tells us exactly why. “That no FLESH should glory in His presence.” If God allowed degrees of education to have any bearing on the effectiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then men who attained to certain levels of achievement in life would have somewhat to glory in aside from the pure grace and mercy of God. Hallelujah! I am so glad that God is no respecter of person. If He was like we have a tendency to be, then all the educated and important people in the world would have first chance at God’s bountiful gifts, and the rest of us would just simply have to get at the end of the line and beg for crumbs. That is not to say that there is not enough of God for everyone, but I think you know what I mean. It just simply comes down to the fact that God receives more glory working through weak and seemingly unimportant vessels. Praise Him! No wonder Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Notice that next verse, (Matt. 18:4) “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” That lets us see why those ecclesiastical fathers could not become children of God. They just simply could not humble themselves and come God’s way. They could not accept the idea that God would speak to the people of Israel without going through them first. I can just see some of them, with their head high, and their chest puffed out, “Who does this wild looking critter think he is? We have gone to school for many, many years to learn all the law and precepts of God, and this fellow, with no educational background, comes walking out of the wilderness claiming to be the voice of God. What kind of fools does he take us for? Does he really think anyone will believe him?” Brothers and Sisters: You have probably heard that very kind of boastful talk in some of the places God delivered you from. They still do it. The blind will lead the blind, as long as this dispensation stands. But let me ask you something at this point before going on, How many of you can see who the fathers of Malachi 4:6 were, in the first advent of Christ? How many can see who the children were? If you do not see who the fathers, and the children were in that day, you will never be able to receive a true revelation of who they are here at the end of the age. I will say this also; If you do not know what the faith of the apostolic fathers was, you will never know whether you have been turned back to it or not. In other words, you just simply cannot pick up a few remarks here at the end time and be looked upon as a revelated son of God, if you are void of understanding concerning all that proceeds a true revelation. John the Baptist knew what he was looking for. He also knew what he was doing, and why he was doing it, and you certainly have no reason to believe that he was trying to establish the faith that those children of his day were going to partake of . No. He was only carrying a message sent forth to separate them from apostate religion, and get them ready to receive the one that would initiate a new covenant with them. That was God’s way of rescuing a spiritual seed from an apostate system of death. John separated them from their old religious system, washed them up, got their minds open, and their spiritual eyes cleared up so they could begin to look forward to a greater unfolding of the purpose of God.

JESUS BAPTIZED BY JOHN

Let us go to John 1:15, now, and notice what was written of John there. This is the apostle John writing his record of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He starts out by showing that in the beginning, before there was anything else, was the WORD, and the WORD was God, and all things were created by the WORD. Even the cell of life that lay in the womb of the virgin Mary for 9 months, and was then birthed into life to be known as the only begotten Son of God. Then in verse 15, we read this. “John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” That simply means that the old covenant, the covenant of law, was given through Moses, but the new covenant, the covenant of eternal life is coming by Jesus Christ. Notice now. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John was not afraid to call Jesus, “the Son of God.” He did not have to be afraid that such terminology would destroy his revelation. That is why I say, it might do some of those apostolic Jesus Name people a lot of good if they would just call Him “the Son of God” once in awhile. It seems that once they saw the oneness of God, and that He truly was manifested in flesh, they were afraid to mention the Son any more, lest they lose the impact of that revelation. Listen, Saints: When we have a true revelation of who Jesus Christ really was, we do not have to be afraid to refer to the flesh man as the Son of God, for that is exactly what He was. Nothing can change that. The incarnation could never be any stretch of the imagination, make the flesh of Jesus the Father of creation. The Father is Spirit. That is why it could be said that, “No man hath seen God at any time.” You just simply cannot see a spirit. Therefore John was not afraid to say that Jesus was the Son of God, Peter was not afraid to say it, Paul was not afraid to say it, and neither am I. No wonder some of these people are called “Jesus only,” they only have part of the revelation of who He was. Alright then, no man has ever seen God at any time, only the Son hath declared. That means, revealed Him to those who had eyes to see. Verse 19, “And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? (This was their big officials.) He confessed, and denied not: but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? (Meaning Elijah) and he saith, I am not. (He was not the literal Elijah, so he did not lie about it, even though he did know that it was the spirit, or we should say, the Elijah anointing upon him.) Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then they said unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were SENT were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were don in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Right here is where we see Isaiah 40; verse 5, fulfilled. Let us read that verse at this time. “And the glory of the Lord hall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” How was it fulfilled? Turn back to Matthew 3:18. This will pick right where we left off, in John 1:29. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of Him.” He was immersed, not sprinkled, and it did not take place where the cart wheels were crossing; John had a hole of water somewhere close by that was deep enough he could bury those repentant sinners in water, and when Jesus stepped out there to be baptized, He was immersed the very same way as all the rest, but not for the same purpose, for He had no sin. Now John had already seen the sign that he had been looking for, so that is the reason he backed off, and said, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” But Jesus knew that He must be washed ceremoniously according to the law of Moses before He entered into the ministry that was set before Him, so He said to John, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he baptized Him, and this is where Isaiah 40, verse 5, comes in. Notice what it says. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased to dwell.” It matters not, how it was translated; for we know that it was at that exact moment, that the Father incarnated Him. From that moment on, the Father walked upon earth in human flesh, the flesh of His Son. Not only was there a voice heard from heaven, but there was another manifestation also; a dove descended from heaven and lighted upon Him. We say it like that, but what the scriptures actually say, if you caught it, was, He saw the SPIRIT OF GOD descending LIKE a dove, and lighting upon Him. The trinitarians grab that verse, and say, Here comes the Holy Ghost, thinking of it only from the dove view point. Now I assure you, it was the Holy Ghost, but you must always keep in mind, the Holy Ghost is the same Spirit that the Father is, so this was just the way that the Father chose to manifest Himself to the vision of those who witnessed the whole episode while hearing the voice from heaven. This was the glory of the Lord that was to be revealed, and all those Jews that had been out there listening to John preach, witnessed it together. They saw out there in the desert, what those Scribes and Pharisees thought could be seen only at Jerusalem, the glory of the Lord revealed. In other words, While they were out there picking on John for doing what he was ordained to do, God did an even more glorious thing among that gathering of people, and those religious leaders missed every bit of it, as far as any spiritual benefit is concerned. They just simply could not see God doing anything that seemed so ridiculous.

ALL ATTENTION TURNS TO JESUS

Those Jews could not see their great Jehovah dwelling in a human vessel of clay, yet that is exactly what He is redeeming His lost children, and restoring them back to, a time when He can dwell fully in every one of them. When you read the last chapters of Revelation: that is exactly what you see. “I shall be their God, and they shall be my people.” That will be the last phase of redemption when God finally places Himself fully, in all of His redeemed children. I want to take you back to the first chapter of John now though, and pick up John’s account of the events after Jesus was baptized. He did not go into the details of the baptism, as the other gospel writers did, he just picks up where Jesus comes off of His forty days and nights of fasting and testing, saying, “Again the next day after (I know that sounds like it applies to the next day after He was baptized, but we must remember that the other writers declare that the Father drove, or led Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil forty days and nights, so this is the next day after that testing has ended.) John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” When John fulfilled his part of Malachi’s prophecy, he turned all attention to Jesus, and those who were truly looking for the one John was point them to, followed Him, when they found out who He was. But there came the day when some of John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.” That is when John began to rejoice for he knew that he had fulfilled his calling. He told them, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This is what makes Malachi 3:1 really stand out, for this is the messenger of the covenant, that John was preparing the way for. He had come to preach, and now all men went to hear Him. How long did He preach? 3 ½ years. Who followed Him? Those who had repented and been baptized by John. Those Judiastic fathers did not get their lives changed, but there were some children that were cleaned up, and ready to follow Jesus, ready to walk with truth. It doesn’t take too much to get a large crowd of people following some man, but the question is, How many of them will follow the truth he stood for in life, after he is gone? That is the question, and that is where the problems arise. Some will turn back completely, others will try to find some other man that they can follow, and usually, only a few will actually keep their lives straight, and walk with truth. We will say more about that a little later, for right now I want to call attention to something Jesus prophesied to the city of Jerusalem.

DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION FORETOLD

In Luke 19, beginning with verse 41, we read this, “And when He (Jesus) was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” This will let you see what can happen to people who hang on to their traditions so tight that they fail to take heed to the message of truth for their hour. When you go on over into chapter 21, you find Jesus telling His disciples what they can expect as they take their stand for truth. He tells them how they will be hated, and persecuted, and abused, and so forth. Then says, “In your patience possess ye your souls. (Some people never learn to have patience.) And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” He tells them of a time of great distress, and wrath upon the people, and how they will be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles, until their time is fulfilled, and such like, but let us see who actually benefitted by the warning and instruction He gave them.

WHAT GOD WILL ACCEPT

After Pentecost, when the church really got its birth, and the new covenant was in full force, certain men from the ranks of the new covenant children began to stand out as leaders in the church. Peter took the lead on the day of Pentecost, when false accusations were laid against those who had just received the Holy Ghost, but there was James, and John, and Stephen, and many others that stood to defend the faith of this new covenant that Jesus had activated and made effective by His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus was gone from the scene, and so was John the Baptist, but those Christians (the children of that day) had something in their hearts that kept them going on. Of course we understand that the gospel was first preached to the Jews, and God let it continue to be administered to that nation of people for several years, but He saw that the spirit of that old Judiastic system would never change, (He knew it all along by His great foreknowledge, but He allotted them sufficient time and opportunity, in order that they would be without excuse) so He began to unfold this great redemption plan to the Gentiles. The covenant He had made with Abraham would be fulfilled. Not only would Abraham have a natural seed, he would also have a spiritual seed. All who believe God’s word, and walk with Him in truth are the spiritual seed of Abraham. But what about that nation of people to whom Christ came? They were cut off completely, as the gospel was given over to the Gentiles. In 69 & 70 A.D. when the Roman army came in there, those pious Pharisees, and those holier than thou Essene Jews, that dwelt in caves down by the Dead Sea, died in their own blood, just like the rest. In the natural, they seemed to be the holiest, the purest, the most undefiled by the world, the most dedicated to God of all. But their righteousness was self-righteousness; it had no eternal benefit, and it furnished them no protection from that invading army. Was anyone protected? You might say. Yes. History tells us that not one Christian was left in the city of Jerusalem, when Titus and his army leveled her, leaving not one stone upon another. How could that be? It is very simple; they saw the signs that Jesus had told them to watch for, and they fled to the mountains, just like He told them to do. In other words, They reaped a double benefit by following the word of the Lord, while those others reaped destruction. I even read a book written by a Jew that was not even a Christian, and in it, he said, “All of the disciples of Jesus had already fled from the city of Jerusalem before the destruction came. Now I ask you, Who was holy among those that dwelt at Jerusalem? Who was clean and pure? Who was really serving God? Those who had believed the word of God for their hour. Those who by revelation, lived a simple, practical life, and were motivated from within a heart that was clean and pure before God. They escaped destruction, and all the rest died, either by the sword, or by the plague, disease, and famine that came upon them. God kept a few of them alive, to preserve seed, and they were carried away to Rome, in captivity, but all those self-righteous ones who thought they were serving God, and that God should be so proud of them, were destroyed. They rejected their opportunity to serve God in truth, so God rejected them, and God has not changed. He is still the same today. He is still rejecting those who reject the truth sent forth in their hour. That is why the religion that was good enough for your saintly old grandmother, is not good enough for you, in this hour. God is still on the move, and those who are accepted of Him, have to be willing to move with Him. What those Scribes and Pharisees were holding onto in the days of Jesus, was all God required from their forefathers who had followed the law of Moses out of a pure heart that desired to please God, but after Calvary, no salvation was wrought by keeping the law of Moses. The scriptures make it very clear that, in the first advent of Malachi 4:6, only those who were turned to children by the word of God, were accepted of God. Therefore I say to you by the word of the Lord, that in the second advent of Malachi 4:6, only those who are turned back to the faith of those first century, apostolic fathers, by the word of the Lord delivered in this age, will be accepted of God. That is why we are titling this message, “They Are Not All Children,” for we can plainly see what the word of God delivered to us by that Elijah in this age was supposed to do, and it is not doing it in the lives of all who claim to be children of God. That leaves one obvious conclusion. They are not all children, and we intend, by the help of God, to show you that they are not. What are they, then? They are tares. What else could they be? William Marrion Branham was not your church father. He was sent, with that Elijah anointing, to preach against apostasy, identify the one true God, and turn our attention back to what Peter, James, John, Paul, and all those early church fathers preached. He did that for me, and for a lot of you, but it is sad to realize, that a vast majority of those who followed his ministry, only left their denomination, to follow the word of the man, instead of the word of the Lord that he was trying to get us back to.

SOME ARE TARES

There will be people read this message, that will actually consider some of my statements to be blasphemous, simply because they are tares, and are not able to recognize truth when they hear it. Sure, they came out of denominations, to follow this message, but they still have the spirit of their denomination (which is a tare spirit) in them. Now let me clarify one thing here. The man that God used to bring forth the truth that these denominations are built around, was not a tare. The tares came later, and built a denominational fence around the truth. That is how they control it. Bro. Branham, who came to this age with that Elijah spirit, to turn us back to those apostolic truths, was not a tare, but those who glorify his flesh, instead of following the truth he stood for, are tares without a doubt. He delivered the word of God to this generation, and you can do with it whatsoever you choose. You can either follow that truth, and be one of the children of God that he was sent to restore to the truth, or you can deify his flesh and be a tare. Only time itself will reveal for sure which is which, but I see some that seemingly have already gone too far in idolatry to turn back now. Only God knows that though. One thing I do know for sure, is that all who are truly children of God in this day and hour, will see Paul, Peter, James, John, and all of those apostolic fathers who defended the faith in their day, and they will love the man that pointed them back to the truth, and will defend his character, image, and purpose, but they will worship God, according to the apostolic truth that he pointed them back to. Let us read Malachi 4:6, for it is important that you remember what we are dealing with, so you do not miss the main points. Talking about the Elijah that was to come, it says, “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, (that was John the Baptist) and the heart of the children to their fathers, (that was Bro. Branham) lest (or before) I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Now that is what we are looking at, and we do not need to prove that Bro. Branham was that Elijah which was to fulfill the second part of that prophecy, for that is generally accepted throughout the following of this message. It is only necessary that we understand what is meant by turning the heart of THE children, back to THEIR fathers. We have tried to help you see that the fathers of John’s hour were the last of the old law age covenant teachers. That is why they had to be made to see what John was doing, even though they could not find it in their hearts to repent and become a child, a child of God. Looking at the history we see, that as Jesus came back to Jerusalem just before He was crucified, every day He would go into the temple and preach. But then, one day, as He was leaving, going out over the Mount of Olives with His disciples, He looked back at that beautiful city, and the temple, and wept over it. In Luke 13:34, you read where He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Why would He say that? Simply because every time He went into the temple to preach, here would come that bunch of Pharisees and elders, questioning Him as though they really wanted to learn something, when really, all they wanted to do was trap Him. They wanted Him to say something they could use against Him. These are the ones that delivered Him to Pilot, to be crucified. These are the ones that stood there crying, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! It was not the man on the street that did those things, even though they might have been caught up in the excitement of it all. Nevertheless He could say, “Your house has been left unto you desolate.” Why? Because God, from henceforth would be found only in the hearts of His true people; He would no longer be found in that temple that they were so proud of. That natural building was only a type of the true temple of God, but those fathers of that day could never see that. That is why Jesus got into so much trouble when He said, Tear this temple down, and I will raise it up again in three days. He was speaking of the temple of His body, and they thought He was claiming to be able to build that literal temple back in three days, if it was torn down. Tares never get a genuine revelation of the word of the Lord, the most they can do is repeat what they hear, but it never becomes a living reality to them. Jesus was the first stone that was to be laid in the foundation of God’s new temple, for it is written, that He is the chief corner stone, but those fathers of that day could never see that. Nevertheless it was necessary that they all be shook by the message of the hour, for they were to be left without excuse before God. Were they looking for Elijah? Yes they were, but he did not come according to the way they demanded that he should. In order for them to have accepted Him, he would have needed to pass through their seminary, and be approved of them first. But I say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, God is not bound by anyone’s traditional concept of what He can, or will do. The only thing that He is bound by is His own word. He watches over that, to see that every jot and tittle of all that He has ever spoken will be brought to pass. That is the reason we can say with dogmatic authority, that anyone in this age who is a true child of God, will be separated from manmade doctrines, and returned to the pure unadulterated apostolic truth of God’s word, and anyone who is still holding to traditional denominational doctrines when this age closes out, is a tare, along with those of this end time message who have defied Bro. Branham, and even those who may not have defied him, but are afraid to say or believe anything other than what he preached. Whether you want to believe it or not, before this age closes out completely, God is going to reveal a lot of things to the bride of Christ, that Bro. Branham never did preach on.

WHOSE CHILDREN ARE YOU?

Now I want you to notice how Jesus spoke to the people of John’s day. In Matthew 11, John is in prison, and Jesus is preaching, and John sent two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (The Lord had not shown John what his end would be, after he had fulfilled his God ordained ministry, so for some reason, a question came up in his mind, and he sent these two disciples to find out if he really had fulfilled his calling.) “Jesus answered and said unto them, God and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. (Now notice) And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, (This is where He vindicated John.) What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not withstanding (nevertheless) he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Now the kingdom of heaven designates a period of time during which God will have His kingdom in the hearts of His true people, for the kingdom of God scripturally, is that kingdom in the hearts of redeemed people. The violent take it by force, lets us know that it is an uphill battle. We do not just simply slide right on through to glory without a fight. Verse 13, “For all the law and the prophets prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, This is Elias (Elijah) which was for to come.” There is his vindication for anyone who may have doubted He was that Elijah that Malachi spoke of. Now over in Luke 16:16, we read these words. “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the KINGDOM OF GOD is preached, and every man presseth into it.” That lets us see two things, John’s ministry was closing out the law age, and a new covenant was about to be introduced, and those who would be beneficiaries under this new covenant would have to press their way into it, for Satan would always try to prevent anyone who would try to follow truth. This new covenant was for a number of men, women, boys and girls, who were referred to as children, because they would be children of God under this new covenant, but as time progressed, those men who were the children of that day, became the fathers of the faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ which we are all partakers of, if we are true children of God, therefore it became the responsibility of the Elijah of our day, to call all of God’s children back to that original faith that was once delivered unto the saints, the gospel as it was preached by Peter, Paul, James and John, and all of those first age preachers, and apostles. The fathers of John’s day could not become children, because they were of the opposite spirit. They trusted in the virtue of being the natural seed of Abraham, but Jesus, when confronted by a bunch of them one day, said to them, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” That is proof that they were of an opposite spirit, and so, also, do we have men of that opposite spirit claiming to be Christians in our day, and they are just as sure children of the devil, as those who Jesus spoke to that day. Why do I say that? I am really just saying what Jesus said to them, that day. In John 8:42, Jesus said, “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.” It isn’t hard to find people today that think more of Bro. Branham than they do of Jesus, so you tell me, according to the Bible, can they be children of God? If not, then whose children are they? They call themselves Christians. But are they? Could they be?

MANY MEN, BUT ONE REVELATION

It is very interesting to note that Jesus took the very elements of the Passover supper, which was celebrated under the law of Moses, and instituted an ordinance to be observed by the New Testament church, under a new covenant. He took of the bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, saying to them, “Take, eat; this is my body. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; (or, as we would say, All of you drink of this) For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” In 1st Corinthians 11:24, where Paul was conveying his revelation of this ordinance to the church there, it reads like this, “Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new Testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”

“DRINK YE ALL OF IT”

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come.” This Passover supper, under the law, pointed forward to Jesus Christ, and what He would accomplish at Calvary on behalf of those that believed, and the Lord’s supper, as we refer to it, points back to Calvary, and what is already a finished work. We do partake of this ordinance in remembrance of what He has already done for us, but we do it with the understanding that there is no salvational virtue in the elements of this ordinance. It is an ordinance for Christians; it will not make a Christian out of you. This new covenant that Jesus put in effect gives every believer direct access to the throne of God without having to be represented by an earthly mediator. There is no priest upon the face of this earth, that has any more access to the throne of God than the most insignificant little believer who humbly prays from the depths of his hungry soul. Relationship to Jehovah was no longer hinged upon the fact that the person was a Jew by natural birth. Soul’s salvation is a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ, and no tare can experience it. When the 120 souls were filled with the Holy Ghost, in the upper room, there was no tares among them. All of them were true children of God, and it remained so for quite a few years, for the Lord Himself added to the church daily, such as should be saved, and they all continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine, and in breaking of bread from house to house, for they had all things common. What a people! What a faith! The more that old Judiastic bunch persecuted them, the stronger they got, and the more were added to them from the ranks of them that had been held under the bondage of the law according to the traditional interpretation of those elders. But from the Bible itself, we only know of two from the ranks of those fathers, that actually came to Christ. That was Nicodemus, and Saul. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, for fear of those other Jews, but Saul was struck down on the road to Damascus, by the hand of the Lord , as he was going there to arrest any of the disciples of Jesus that he could find. He thought he was doing God a service by persecuting what he considered to be heretics, and all the time he was fighting against God. He had no use at all for the children of this new covenant, but the Lord stopped him cold in his tracks, and turned him around, and made him the apostle to the Gentiles. Did God violate his will, and force the new covenant upon him? No. God just got his attention long enough for him to see that he was going the wrong way, and he immediately became willing to turn around, and go with God. Was he of the ranks of those Jewish fathers? Yes, but he had a different spirit about him; he wanted to please God. There is always hope for a person who has a genuine desire to please God, no matter how wrong they may be. Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, by the Lord Himself, testified later, that he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and blameless according to the law of Moses, but that he counted all of that as loss, that he might gain Christ. God gave that man such a revelation of His word, His will, and His purpose, that he spent the rest of his natural life trying to tell about it. He wrote most of the New Testament epistles that are in our Bible, and it is in his epistle to the Hebrews, and to the Romans, where we find election and predestination taught so clearly. He always carried a burden for his Jewish brethren according to the flesh, that they also might believe and be saved, and wherever he went in his missionary journeys, he always sought them out, and preached the gospel to them first. But his chief calling, was to be a light unto the Gentiles, a means of salvation to the ends of the earth, so to speak, and that still stands true even in 1983. His gospel has not been replaced with anything, as far as God is concerned, and it never will be, as long as there is any need for the gospel to be preached. Do you know how he got his revelation of the will and purpose of God? He went out into the Arabian Desert alone, and studied the Old Testament scrolls, and the Holy Ghost directed his thinking until he got the whole picture connected together. Then he went up to Jerusalem, and met with the other apostles, and the beauty of it all, is that he had the same revelation of the One God, water baptism, baptism of the Holy Ghost, election, predestination, and the foreknowledge of God, that Peter and those other apostles had. That proves to me that they all had the same teacher. Would you not agree? Then when they taught holiness, they did not have to hide behind some mask, as the Pharisees did, for they were holy from within, made holy through the revelation that God had placed in their souls. Praise God! It was a holy God living inside of His people. That is why Jesus told those Jewish fathers, “Your house is left unto you desolate, because there would be no further need for that literal temple until the last week of Daniel’s 70 weeks was ready to be fulfilled. Starting with His Son Jesus the Christ, God was laying the foundation stones for a new house that he would dwell in, a house of flesh and bones, instead of stones and mortar. It was the apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians that said, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” How does He get in that temple? You may ask. By the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which in reality is the new birth that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about. In 2nd Corinthians 6:16, you find Paul asking, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Now this is going to tear Satan’s kingdom all to pieces, and he knows it, and he does not like it, and he proposes to stop it one way or another. This new faith was threatening the Roman empire, one of Satan’s strong holds. It would bring about the destruction of all those pagan temples, and it would bring an end to Judaism, so naturally Satan would try to prevent God from ruling from within the hearts of His people, if there was any way to do it. That is where the tares come into the picture.

MAKE-BELIEVERS GROW WITH THE BELIEVERS

Now a tare is a make-believer, a child of the devil, pretending to be a child of God, and the churches are full of them today, but there were none of them among the ranks of the believers in the book of Acts, for those early apostles guarded against any attempt of Satan to pervert that true gospel, so he had to wait until after they all passed off he scene, before he could actually successfully sow his tares in this field of God. (The church) as early as 54 A.D., Paul wrote to the Thessalonians concerning that man of sin that would come upon the scene in the end of the age, and stated even then, that the mystery of iniquity was already at work. Then in 90 A.D. John wrote, in his little epistle, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whither they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” John thought the end was getting close, because he saw that spirit of Antichrist at work, but little did he know that it was only the beginning of what God would allow Satan to do for the next 1900 years. It was really in the second church age, that Satan actually succeeded in placing his tares in the congregation of the saints. How did he do it? Without those staunch guards of the faith to detect them, make-believers, falsely converted to the faith, were able to slip into the fellowship, and naturally, after they were in, the same Holy Ghost that fell on the true seed, also fell on them, and they could shout and dance right along with the rest of them. But they never could receive a true revelation. Instead, they began to inject their own ideas little by little until the church was plunged headlong into the period known as the Dark Ages. It did not happen suddenly; it actually took several hundred years for it to reach its worst hour of time. You know, that according to the 2nd parable of Matthew 13, once that tare spirit gets inside, it will grow just like the true crop, and actually the Lord said, “Let them all grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Why did God allow Satan to get by with a thing like that? It puts true believers to the test. Will they walk with God, or follow the crowd? Those tares were allowed to attack, and pervert eery true doctrine of the New Testament church, and the first thing they went to work on, was the one God revelation. They got that perverted into a trinity. The new birth experience (the baptism of the Holy Ghost) was changed into a formalistic ritual, and a holy way of life was pushed completely out of the picture. That does not mean that everyone was like that, for God has always preserved seed, but the ruling spirit in the church was like that, for it was tares running things during those Dark Age years. No true child of God would throw out the truth, but when your are outnumbered so badly, all you can do is live your own convictions, and let the rest do what they want to do. Therefore coming out of the Dark Ages was Martin Luther, a monk that God revealed an apostolic truth to. The just shall live by faith instead of by the word of the pope. Now remember, God was not restoring the faith of the fathers, He was restoring His children back to it. It took almost 500 years for Satan to rob the church of that true faith, and God has now been in the process of restoring His church back to it for about the same length of time. It was the restoration of God’s children to these apostolic truths that brought the Dark Ages period to its end, for every scriptural truth is light, and people simply cannot dwell in darkness, and light both at the same time. No, Satan had his millennium of darkness, and now the church of the living god has been restored to the light. The vast majority of world religion is still in spiritual darkness, but God’s true church is walking in the light of His word once again, HIS NAME, HIS WORD, HIS WORKS.

A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTERS

Now let me ask you something, Saints: When Martin Luther began preaching, “The just shall live by faith,” was that a new truth? Of course not. The apostle Paul wrote that to the saints of Rome 1500 years before that. (Romans 1:17) Also, in Romans 5:1, Paul wrote, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This was an apostolic truth that God fed Luther’s hungry soul with. Just like I said earlier, God restored the church back to the faith of the fathers by degrees, just like she left it. The church did not go from light to darkness suddenly, so God did not bring her from darkness to light suddenly. He restored her to one truth at a time, and He did not have to use a tare to carry that truth. Luther was not a tare himself, but the moment he started to preach faith, the tares started gathering around him, Hallelujah! We have faith. Hallelujah! Faith is wonderful. You see, the tares will rejoice right along with the saints, and they will grow right along with the saints, but they can never become children of God. Once a tare, always a tare. You may have heard people say, I used to be a child of the devil, but now I am a child of God. But that is not correct. A person that was foreknown of God, was never a child of the devil; that person, before they come to a true salvation experience, is simply a servant of the devil, a prisoner, you might say. That is why they are referred to as LOST; they are lost from their heavenly Father. That does not mean that God does not know all about them; it simply means, that such a lost soul does not know where his true family is, and God always makes the first move, to draw that lost soul to Himself. Alright, so the tares began gathering around those true children of God that had embraced Luther’s revelation, Oh, this faith is wonderful, but we had better ger organized, so that we can better administer it to the world. It has never been the true children of God that founded these religious organizations; that tare spirit does that, in order to keep the truth they have from moving any further, or to keep those who have a certain truth from moving any further with God. Do you know why they can never move any further with God? When they organize, they write up their bylaws and articles of faith, and that is all they will allow, in their organization. Every one of them looks at themselves as exactly what God wants his church to be like; therefore they leave no room for God to add any further revelation of His word to them, so they rally around what they have, for a while, and then death and decay begins to strike their system. But all the while, they are affecting some people that are true children of God, and even though death strikes the system, the truth they organized around, never dies. It was the same pattern all the way through the Reformation. God would reveal an apostolic truth to a chosen vessel, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, and on down the line, and the followers of that man’s teaching would take that truth, and build a denominational fence around it. That is exactly the way the devil wanted it. That is how these daughters of that old Roman Catholic whore were defiled. Now do not get disturbed at me for saying that, for it was the angel talking to the apostle John, in 96 A.D., that first called her that. He showed John the final judgment of that great whore, before the whore ever even came into existence. You can read it in Revelation 17:1-5, and you will see there, that this great whore had some daughters, for she is called, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Those daughters are all of the religious organizations that have come out of the Reformation movement. When those daughters embraced a truth that separated them from the old Roman Catholic mother system; they were clean and pure, but before too long, that old tare spirit would get in, take over, build an organization, and cause the whole thing to commit spiritual fornication with the world. That made them harlots; they were no longer in a place where a holy God could entrust, nor impart divine revelation to them. Methodism, founded off of John Wesley’s holiness teaching was built into the most wonderful, and largest Protestant denomination upon the face of the earth, and that brings our little summary up to around the dawning of the 20th century, a point in time when Laodicea was just about ready to be activated. Laodicea is the age of materialism, the industrial age that has lifted the standard of living from where it remained you might say, for hundreds of years, to where it is today, in only a few short years.

SATAN’S HINDRANCES

As the age of Laodicea came into focus, God began to lead certain ones from the ranks of those denominations to an experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost; those that were hungry for more of God. Now let me say at this time, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was not given in the fulness of its potential. God withheld the revelational quality of the experience, and only moved in the area of the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, as pertaining to speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing, and so forth. In other words, That which pertained to the gifts of the Spirit. But no sooner did the true children begin to receive this experience, than here came the tares. They could sing, shout, speak in tongues, dance, prophesy, and anything else that the true children were doing. Now some will want to know how a tare, that does not have the Holy Ghost, could do all those things, but it is very simple. They have that counterfeit spirit in them, the same spirit that enabled Pharaoh’s magicians to duplicate all the signs that God gave to Moses and Aaron, down there in Egypt. But there came the day and hour that God was ready to test this experience they were receiving, and that was like dropping a stick of dynamite into a can of gasoline. Satan had finally succeeded in getting the one God revelation out of the church, in 325 A.D., and 1600 years later, here it came, right back. God dropped that apostolic truth right in the middle of trinity Pentecost, and brother, those old tares (bishops and presbyters) really let out a squall, Get that Satanic mess out of here; that is good for nothing but to split the church. That is like the pot, calling the kettle black. The devil sure is sly. He will say, or do anything, to keep revelation truth out of the picture. It is always his children, the tares, that raise the loud protest, and brand something of God as Satanic. The true child of God is hungry for truth, and they will not play with it for 18 years before receiving it. The sad truth is, Anyone who plays around with truth for 18 years, does not have anything in them that can receive truth by revelation. I think you know what I mean. Nevertheless the children of God began to receive the revelation of God’s oneness even in spite of all the opposition from the tares, so when the devil could not stop it, he just joined it, like he did all the rest, Praise the Lord, it sure is wonderful, to know that God is one, and not three persons. Hallelujah! This will be the greatest organization of them all, so that is where the church of the living God stood, as the man destined to be God’s prophet to this age grew to manhood. God had restored the church little by little, back to the apostolic truth that she had let slip away from her, but the tares were still running things. Here was all those beautiful truths that the New Testament church was founded upon, all fenced in and divided up, and if God did not do something those tares would sap the very life out of those true children of God that were scattered around in those systems. He could not perfect His church as long as it was divided up like that, and He could not call her to glory before she was perfected, so what did He do? Hallelujah! He raised up a prophet messenger, and anointed him to call His children out of those places, and lead them to see that the true church of the living God is not divided, nor built into a denomination. Who was that prophet messenger? His name was William Marrion Branham, born under very unusual circumstances, in a simple little cabin near Burkesville, KY. He was not a theologian. As a matter of fact, he did not have very much of society’s formal education, but he did have the hand of God upon his life from the time that he was a very small boy. We will not go into his life, for that is recorded in ever so many publications that can be obtained. What we want you to see from this message, is what his ministry fulfilled in the redemption process of God. We do not need to lift up his flesh, in order to lift up the purpose of God that his ministry fulfilled. I truly thank God for the day He sat me down at the feet of that man, for as I listened to him preach and teach, he pointed me right back to the apostles Paul, Peter, James, John and all of those other New Testament writers. He made that Bible that I once was afraid of, talk to my soul. Hallelujah! I could never feed my soul on Methodist Church doctrine after that.

WILLIAM MARRION BRANHAM COMMISSIONED

It was in the year 1933, when Bro. Branham, as a young evangelist, was baptizing some converts in the Ohio River, at the foot of Spring Street, in Jeffersonville, Ind., that God spoke to him, and commissioned him for his role in the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6, of the Old Testament. We started our message with this scriptures, because it is the most quoted, and seemingly the least understood of all scripture, among the following of this humble servant of God that fulfilled exactly, what he was called of God to fulfill. While he was baptizing, there in the river, just like John the Baptist, he heard a voice say, Look up. Look up. When he looked up, there was a great light hanging right there over his head. Then a voice spoke, and said, “As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of the Lord, so are you sent with a message that shall prepare the way for His second coming.” What he would do, had to be worded a little different than what John did, for John was sent to introduce a physical man. But Bro. Branham was not able to introduce a physical man. It is the message Bro. Branham delivered to this generation, that is forerunning the second coming of Jesus Christ. John prepared the way and actually introduced a physical person in which dwelt the very God of all creation. There in the Jordan River, that day, stood both messengers of Malachi 3:1, one messenger introducing another one. But when you look at Brother Branham, you do not see two physical messengers. You see one messenger, with a message from the throne of God, sent forth to this generation, for the purpose of calling God’s people out of denominational bondage, and allowing them an opportunity to dress themselves up and get ready to meet the Lord. All of this had to be accomplished before the Lord would return in person to smite the earth with a curse, as Malachi 4:6 states, (or to smite all wickedness with judgment) Gentiles have never been privileged to know Christ after the flesh, but they can know Him, for He is living in the pages of a book, but the book has to be read under the leadership of the Holy Ghost, in order for the reader to see Him, and before Brother Branham came upon the scene to cry out against it, Satan’s shrewd tactics prevented that. God’s people were more or less forced to read the Bible through the eyes of their denominational system. Those who were so blessed as to see one God, and water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, were blinded to most of the other great truths of this new covenant that was introduced by the Lord Jesus Christ in His first advent, so that left God without a crop that He could reap from the pure seed that was sown.

GOD’S PROPHET ON THE SCENE

Now Brothers and Sisters: what we have to realize, is that God Himself is the only one that can change His covenant with man, and until He gives a new one: the old one is still in effect, and only those who meet the conditions of that covenant are acceptable to Him. Therefore I would remind you, that the covenant placed in effect by the Messenger John the Baptist introduced, was the last covenant God made with lost mankind that needed redemption, and only those who meet the conditions of that covenant will be acceptable to God. He has not changed the formula, not even by one word, since the day the church was given life there in Jerusalem, in that upper room. All of those first age Christians understood that, but they were not the crop that God would harvest, they were the seed, so to speak. When you plant a seed, you make sure you plant the kind of seed that you want a multiplied reproduction of at harvest time, and you cultivate and care for that crop until you do everything you need to, to get it ready to be harvested. Therefore I ask you, Do you think God, who is the author of perfection, would plant a church in the earth different than the kind He intended to harvest? That would be a careless perversion of His own law of reproduction, and only the devil is a perverter. But any person with spiritual insight could plainly see, that the church of 1933 was not like the church in the book of Acts. It was a long way from it, even after almost 500 years, since the Reformation started. What was the answer? How would God ever get an exact reproduction of that first age church? There was only one way, short of starting all over again. (And there was no scriptural provision for that.) He would have to do something to get the end time church back to believing exactly what that first age church believed. There is scripture for that, Malachi 4:5-6, our text. But who was there in the land that had a universal voice of authority, of the caliber that could turn the universal body of Christ around, and get them all going in the same direction? There was no one. But that was because it was not yet time for that, back before W.W.2. God would raise up such a man in due time, but it would not be his voice of authority over the church, that would get the job done; it would be the authority of the word of God in the message he delivered to this age, that would accomplish the purpose of God, long after the man himself had been taken from the scene. At the time God began to introduce Bro. Branham to the church world, the Pentecostals had the greatest light, but that was still not what the church of the living God was to reflect back to Him. Some of those Jesus name Pentecostals that had the same evidence as the trinity element, were so set in their way, and so sure that they were what God wanted: they referred to the trinity as false brethren. When some of them came out to investigate Bro. Branham, they were heard to say, IF THIS MAN TRULY IS A PROPHET, WHY DOES HE ASSOCIATE WITH THESE ASSEMBLY OF GOD TRINITY PEOPLE? They were like Peter, before God sent Him to the house of Cornelius. You must remember, he was not the messenger just to the Pentecostals; he was the messenger to the whole age. God still had children in all those denominational systems, and they had to hear their call to come out, and be separated from man made traditions. As Bro. Branham preached from place to place, the big bishops and presbyters came out to look him over. They would sit there so proud, but they would see a display of the power of God that they just simply could not understand, and you would see tears come into their eyes as the light of God reflected from that man. I am not talking about the light of truth that he preached. Do you know what happened? They looked right into that light, and it was so bright, it blinded the. Why? They were tares. They were sold out to a tare system. The light of truth did not blind God’s true children that looked into it. No, it illuminated their souls. What was he doing out there? He was delivering a message first to call God’s children out of those systems, and secondly to turn them back to the faith of THEIR fathers. He was one of the endtime children that was to be turned back to the faith of the fathers. God raised him up from among the ranks of those who were to be turned back, and placed an anointing upon im that had never been displayed in that magnitude upon any man, since it was displayed in the life of Christ without measure. That still did not change the fact that he was one of the endtime church children. God raised him up at a time when a lot of the predestinated children were getting so fed up with manmade traditions, they were ready to become spiritual dropouts. I had just about come to that place myself, before I received the Holy Ghost.

SPIRITUAL RESTORATION PREACHING

You have heard me tell how I was turned down by the district superintendent of the Methodist church, as pastor of our little neighborhood church, because of educational requirements. That struck me such a hard blow, I determined that I would never preach again. I promised the Lord that I would still go to church, and I would still live for Him, but I would never preach again. About one week later, after I had prayed like that, I was so very discouraged, and that night, Jesus came to me in a dream. We had already started going to the tabernacle to hear Bro. Branham, so a few nights after I had the dream, I had a chance to tell it to him. (I will not tell it now for lack of time, but it is in part 2 of the series we printed on Bro. Branham, if any of you want to read it.) He only replied, Bro. Junie: Walk with God. He is getting ready to lead you out into deep water. He sure did that, for a short time later, He led me right into the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and that gave me an altogether different outlook on things. Praise God! I have never been the same since. I am thankful to God for allowing me the privilege of sitting under Bro. Branham’s teaching, and I could never find words to express my heartfelt feelings about it all, but one thing I do know for sure, he never said anything that caused me to feel like worshiping him. He always pointed me right back to the Bible. Every text I ever heard im preach from, was taken right from the Bible, and he always lifted up Jesus Christ, and was not afraid to call Him the Son of God, and the gospel he preached, was the same that Peter, Paul and all of them, preached. It makes no difference how important some of you preachers of this message may feel, if you did not hear that little man pointing you back to the Bible, back to the faith of that early church, there in the book of Acts, you missed the message he delivered to the children of God. He also had a message for the tares to run with, and it is obvious after 18 years since his death, that some of you are traveling the world over, with that message. That is why you refuse to use the Bible as the sole text book for what you preach. If you had truly been a partaker of Malachi 4:6, you would not want to use anything else. No. You saw a man display attributes of the God he served, and instead of seeing God, you only saw the man, and he has become your idol, and God hates idolatry. Before I even received the Holy Ghost, (according to the Pentecostal teaching) the Lord had already showed me, while reading the first chapter of Luke, that before Jesus would come again, that Elijah spirit would have to come upon the scene, and the first time I ever heard Bro. Branham preach, I knew that he was that Elijah that was to come. He preached predestination, justification, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, along with eternal security of the believer, and that just about covered the main doctrines of your major denominations, and he showed by the Bible that all of these truths belonged to the true children of God. When he preached on the serpent’s seed, I said, That makes mor sense to me than Eve eating an apple. However I did not fail to notice that he did make what we refer to as dual statements, on certain subjects, from time to time, but none of that ever kept me from receiving what God anointed him to feed to the true children. Therefore the children of Malachi 4:6-B, do not find it necessary to quote Bro. Branham every time they open their mouth, any more than those early apostles did the Lord Jesus Christ. They preached the revelation they received from Jesus without quoting His exact words, and I am here to tell you, that any true God anointed preacher of this age, will preach from that same revelation without quoting Bro. Branham in every breath.

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

I will never forget one time when we went over to the church of the Open Door in Louisville, to hear Bro. Branham preach. He opened his Bible to Jude 3, for a text, and preached that the children of God should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints. He laid it down plainly, Get back to Jesus name water baptism. Get back to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Get back to the gifts of the Spirit, back to divine healing, and all the other teachings of the apostles. That is the faith that we should contend for. Brothers and Sisters: I can tell you as straight as you will ever hear anything, he was not giving us another Bible; he was leading us back into the one we already had, but had gotten away from the true revelation of. As I have already said, Some of you got so close to the light that shined through him, it blinded you to the truth of that light, and all you could see was the man that the light shined through. You can never see Ephesians 4, because you have never really seen Malachi 4. Now, to turn that right around, If you had really seen Malachi 4:6, in its end time fulfillment, you would be reading Ephesians 4, and shouting, God, help me to walk in the light of those scriptures. But no, you would rather have your Joseph. I know this will sting some of you, but there is not going to be any man’s blood on my hands. I am delivering my soul of a burden that I have carried for a long time. I know it will not help any of you who have to have an idol, but I believe there are yet some souls out there, that just simply have no yet heard the message represented from the revelation viewpoint. I pray that we can help some of them. You who went into polygamy after hearing Bro. Branham preach on marriage and divorce, Do you really believe you heard the message that man preached to the bride of Christ? I would like to know just what fathers your faith was turned back to. That is the sort of thing I see in the Cain line before the flood, and in pagans before the gospel came to them. The children of Malachi 4:6-B have been led to the true revelation of Deuteronomy 24, and 1st Cor. 7, and they know better than that. You may say, I came out of denominations as soon as I heard Bro. Branham preach. I know you did, but you still have a tare spirit, and you have nothing to feed to the true church of the living God. That is why we are titling this message, “They Are Not All Children.” It is true that we are all children of one spirit or the other, but it is obvious that not everyone that has followed after the teaching of Bro. Branham, is a child of God. Some of you have clung to the children of God, like husk will cling to a grain of wheat. The messenger to this age did not change those religious systems, for the simple reason, they have a tare spirit, and they are on their way to hell, and I will have to say the same thing about any individual that never gets his spiritual vision turned back to the faith of our apostolic fathers, no matter what you can quote from Spoken Word books.

THE WEDDING GARMENT IS RESTORED

I just want to say before I close, I am not preaching like this because I am mad at anyone. But rather because it is truth, and there is not much time left for anyone to play around. Jesus is coming back for a church that has been restored to the faith of those first age Christians, and been purged of all former traditions, a church that universally, is receiving the same revelation of the word of God, and brought to that place by the ministry of Ephesians 4:11. In other words, Once the children are turned back to the faith of their fathers, God will raise up the five fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11, from among their own ranks. They will not have to search through Spoken Word books for something to preach either, for they will be hearing from God themselves. I will not even take the time to mention all the things that various one’s are teaching about our precious deceased brother, but I will emphasize that, our brother, and not our God. He will truly be resurrected from the dead, but not before Peter, Paul, James and John, and not even before those who die in the Lord tomorrow. So let us get things settled in our hearts, and start living the truth that the man was anointed to turn us back to, if we really are children of God. Do not take any part in this date setting, nor in trying to squeeze 7 years into a 3 ½ year period of time, for all of this is just plain nonsense. All of these date setters are still here, except those who have gone by the way of the grave, and Jesus is still waiting for the rest of the word of God to be fulfilled to the point of His return, before He returns. The wedding garment has been restored to the bride, and she is busy dressing herself, but some others are being thrown out according to the words of Jesus, because they do not have a wedding garment. The wedding garment for our day is the same as it was in Paul’s day. It is a robe of pure revelation of the word of God. Not a pure quote from one of Bro. Branham’s sermons. The seventh seal is yet to be opened and revealed, and the seven thunders are yet to sound, and these are only for the bride of Christ. No quoter will even hear them. You who preach the prophet like the Catholic Church does Mary, are going to miss God just as much as the Catholic Church does. There is no difference. There was nothing wrong with Mary, and there was nothing wrong with the person of our brother. It is only what the Devil causes people to believe about the, that is wrong. Let us worship the Father of the one Mary gave birth to, (for His flesh was not God) and let us give proper respect to the instruments God works through, and above all else, if you do not remember anything else that we have said, remember this, Jesus Christ is Lord of all, Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Jesus Christ is the one that is coming again to take His bride unto Himself, and there is no private interpretation of the word of God. Amen.

BROTHERS ANS SISTERS: WE ARE TRULY A PRIVILEGED PEOPLE. TO BE LIVING IN THIS HOUR OF TIME, AND TO HAVE THIS PRECIOUS WORD OF GOD REVEALED TO US AS MUCH AS IT IS, IS SOMETHING THAT MONEY CANNOT BUY. WE ARE TRULY FEASTING UPON THE MANNA THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD THAT WE COME IN CONTACT WITH EVERY DAY, THINK WE ARE CRAZY, BUT IF THIS IS A TRUE EXAMPLE OF BEING CRAZY, I WOULD SURE HATE TO BE SANE AGAIN. HALLELUJAH! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! IN HIS GREAT WISDOM AND FOREKNOWLEDGE, HE INSPIRED SAINTS OF OTHER AGES TO RECORD THE THINGS THAT WOULD COME TO PASS IN OUR AGE OF TIME, AND YET HAD IT COMPLETELY HIDDEN FROM THE GREAT SCHOLARS THAT HAVE SPENT SO MANY YEARS OF THEIR LIVES STUDYING IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEOLOGY, THAT NONE OF THEM EVER RECEIVED A TRUE REVELATION OF IT. JUST TO USE A VERY NATURAL ILLUSTRATION TO EMPHASIZE A SPIRITUAL REALITY, LET ME SAY THIS, WHAT MAY BE GARBAGE TO SOME FOLKS, IS LIFE GIVING, AND LIFE SUSTAINING FOOD TO OTHERS. YOU HAVE SEEN LITTLE CHILDREN, AND EVEN MANY ADULTS, FILL A LARGE PLATE WITH FOOD, AND THEN JUST SIT WITH A FORK, OR A SPOON, AND WALLOW IT AROUND EATING ONLY A FEW BITES, AND THEN IT IS DUMPED INTO A GARBAGE CAN. BUT YOU LET SOME FELLOW COME ALONG THAT HAS HAD NOTHING TO EAT FOR A FEW DAYS, AND WHAT HE FINDS IN THAT GARBAGE CAN BECOMES A GREAT FEAST TO HIM. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR GREAT SCHOLARS HAVE DONE WITH THE WORD OF GOD. THEY HAVE WRESTLED WITH IT, WALLOWED IT AROUND, PICKED OUT A FEW MAN PLEASING THEORIES, AND THEN DUMPED THE REST IN THEIR SPIRITUAL GARBAGE CAN. THEY HAD NO TASTE FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN WATER BAPTISM, NOR FOR THE ONENESS OF THE GODHEAD, NOR FOR PREDESTINATION, NOR FOR ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE TRUE BELIEVER, AND A GREAT PERCENTAGE OF THEM EVEN REJECT THE TRUTH OF THE NECESSITY OF RECEIVING THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. BUT WE ARE LIVING IN AN HOUR WHEN TRUE BELIEVERS HAVE A CRAVING IN THEIR SOUL TO FEED UPON THIS HIDDEN MANNA, AND THEY DO NOT LOOK FOR A DOCTOR OF DIVINITY TO FEED IT TO THEM. GOD HAS AN ANOINTED MINISTRY OF APOSTLES, PROPHETS, EVANGELISTS, PASTORS AND TEACHERS TO DO THE FEEDING, AND THE ONLY DIPLOMA REQUIRED IS GIVEN BY THE HOLY GHOST. LET US KEEP THIS IN MIND NOW, AS WE CONTINUE OUR EXAMINATION OF THE LETTERS WRITTEN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA BY THE HAND OF THE APOSTLE JOHN, WHO WAS IN EXILE ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS WHEN JESUS INSTRUCTED HIM TO DO SO.

PERGAMOS CONTINUED

We ended part one of this message, speaking of the hidden manna, and the white stone in which is written a new name known only to him that receiveth it (Revelation 2:17). We have pointed out the fact that the hidden manna is for us to feed upon in this present life, and the white stone with a new name, is for our life in immortality, for we do not need a new name in this present life. The 19th chapter of the book of Revelation is where our new name comes into the picture, for that is where we read of Jesus descending to earth with the armies which were in heaven, and in verse 12, it says that He (Jesus) had a name written that no man knew, but He Himself. I will just say this, The new name must correspond to what He is in His office work for the hour of time that is being fulfilled at the time. Therefore let it be understood that our new name is for the hereafter life, when we are in immortality.

ONE MUST BE LORD

Now at this time I want to call your attention to various things that were written by anonymous men that I have come across in studying history. I found where one man wrote, and explained the Millennium, just like we have published right back there in the article titled, “The Age of Regeneration.” When I read that, I felt just like stomping a hole through the floor, if I may express my joy in that way. I said, Hallelujah! Let these critics pull their hair out if they want to, for if I am crazy, at least there was one other man that was just as crazy as me. I do not know who he was; but listen to what he wrote concerning the Godhead, whether God is one, two, three or a half dozen. He is challenging the heretics who are teaching that God is more than one, and says, “As to whether there be one God or more, there is indeed much ambiguity, for not only do individuals differ among themselves, but also peoples and nations. But he who shall follow the guidance of reason, will understand that there cannot be a Lord, except one. Neither a Father, except one. For if God who made all things is also Lord, and Father, He must of necessity be only one, or one only, so that the same may be the head and source of all things. It is not possible for the world to exist unless all things be referred to one person, unless one hold the rudder, unless one guide the reins, and as it were, one mind direct all members of the body. If there are many kings in a swarm of bees, they will perish, or be scattered abroad after a while.” This man, whoever he was, lets us know what the basic issues were, in this great hour of struggle when Satan was trying to destroy the hidden manna that true believers were to feed upon. It also allows us to see that the sword of the Spirit, which is the truth, and the way it is handled, will always be used to defend the righteous and true child of God in his, or her battle against Satan and his heretics. This is the only way we can survive the many attacks of Satan when he is trying so hard to destroy everything, and every one that stands for truth. For what it really is when you know the truth of it, is a battle between two spiritual forces, the Spirit of God in the true believer, against the spirit of Satan in the heretics. This is how God keeps the channel open for true believers of every age to find the hidden manna. There is never a question as to who will win in a battle of this kind, for we should always remember what the apostle John wrote in his first Epistle, chapter 4, verse 4, when he was speaking of these Antichrist spirits, “Ye are of God, little children and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” The Holy Spirit in us will always have the victory over false doctrine if we will just allow Him to lead us and give us utterance.

WHITE STONE – NEW NAME TO OVERCOMERS

Now Brothers and Sisters: Listen to a few more little excerpts that I will read from the many, many chapters this same man wrote concerning the great truths of the word of God. This next one is about the ending of time, as he refers to it, and the evils of the nations, just before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks of how the end will come, what will be accomplished by the wrath of God, and how the Millennium will be set up. Listen, “But when He shall have destroyed unrighteousness, (This is by the wrath of God in judgement) and shall have recalled to life, the righteous that have lived, even from the very beginning, He will be engaged among men a thousand years, (This is a Millennium) And will rule them with just command. Then, they who shall be left alive in their bodies (mortal men, and woman, and children which survive the wrath of God) shall not die; but shall during this thousand years, produce an infinite multitude of offspring, (Is that not what we wrote in our paper? I have been condemned by some, for saying that there will be babies born in the Millennium, so you can just imagine how I felt, when I read what this man wrote about it). And their offspring shall be holy and beloved of God. But they which shall be raised from the dead shall preside over the living, as judges. But the nations shall not be entirely Extinguished, but some shall be left as a victory for God. About the same time also, the prince of the devils, who is the contriver of all evils, shall be bound with chains, and shall be imprisoned during the thousand years of the heavenly rule in which righteousness shall reign in the world, so that he may contrive no evils against the people of God that shall be collected from all the earth.” Remember, Saints; This man wrote these things during that Pergamos age of time, which just proves to me that God kept a channel of truth open from that apostolic age, right on down to this very time, through those godly men who knew what it was to defend the faith with the sword of the Spirit. This was the age when worldliness, corruption and immorality of every kind was creeping in, to bring everything back, back, back, to a pagan, immoral society. As in every other age since then, not all that claimed to be believers, were over-comers, but there have always been a few from every age that were, and it was to these, that the promises were made. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone, a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” But to the church at Pergamos, and to the age it symbolized, these words were written, “Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them (the corrupt ones) with the sword of my mouth.”

Each age had a star messenger, but the messenger did not necessarily appear on the scene at the beginning of the age. Paul came on the scene at the beginning of that 1st age, but Irenaeus was already upon the scene when the 2nd age began. Then when you come to the 3rd age you find that the star messenger appeared later. The important thing about it all is that the star messenger always appeared in a strategic hour, when things were building up to a climax of some kind. Then it was a case of either repent for further existence, or else a shut door that would just let the whole thing deteriorate and fade away. Of course we must realize, that God was not surprised by anything that happened, for He knew how each age would come and go, even before the foundation of the world. That is why Jesus spoke the seven parables of Matthew 13; it gave a little preview of each age, during the dispensation of grace.

THE MUSTARD SEED

When we look at the 3rd parable (Matthew 13:31-32) we find only two verses of scripture given to it, but, oh what a message it carries. Let us read it, (31) “Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: (32) Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” Now since this is the 3rd parable, it applies to the 3rd age, and we are able to look back and see how precise it was. Truly the grain of mustard seed is in reference to the first 120 disciples that received the promise of the Father, there in that upper room. One might have said, What can 120 people do in changing the course of the world? Therefore let me ask you, Have they done that? You know they have. As the 1st chapter of the book of Acts opens, we find where Jesus made a promise to His disciples, that they would receive power whereby they would be witnesses unto Him, not only locally, but unto the uttermost part of the earth. He did not explain to them, what to expect, He only told them they would receive it. So what did they do, they gathered in an upper room, in Jerusalem, where they prayed together, and waited until something happened, ten days later. All of a sudden the place was filled with the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This was the promise of the Father that they had been waiting for, but did not know what to expect. This was also the Comforter that Jesus had promised to them, in John 14:26, and after they received this Comforter, this promise, this power, they did not have to be instructed how to react. No. They came down into the streets of Jerusalem speaking in tongues, and glorifying God. The Revelation of God’s word was flowing through them like water, and when the skeptics began to criticize, this gave the apostle Peter opportunity to preach his first sermon, and a result, another three thousand souls were added to their number. Brother! That grain of mustard seed really got watered that day, and it burst wide open with eternal life. That little bush really started growing. By the time the 2nd age was ushered in, the kingdom of heaven had put its roots into every Mediterranean nation of the old world. Then, by the time of the 3rd century, the kingdom of heaven had branches all the way from North Africa to the borders of Russia, from the borders of India, to Britain, to the shores of the Atlantic. That was what that grain of mustard seed had grown into, by the time of the 3rd century. But what did Jesus say would happen? He said that the birds of the air would come, and lodge in its branches. We could easily picture in our minds, a beautiful tree full of branches full of beautiful leaves, and a bunch of buzzards sitting on the limbs. Alright now, let us consider this other tree, which is the kingdom of heaven. Here it stood, casting its shadow across the whole earth, and the devil did not like it. He tried to cut it down by martyring God’s saints, and that failed. He only fertilized it with their blood, so what did he do? He began to gather up a bunch of vultures to lodge themselves in its branches.

Emperor Constantine

When I was a little boy, growing up, there was a place close by, called Buzzard Roost. There was an old dead sycamore tree standing there by the side of a stream of water called Muddy Fork Creek, and any time the clouds began to get dark, and the storm winds started blowing, all the buzzards for miles around would come and light on the branches of that old dead sycamore tree. I am just using this for an example, to sort of illustrate what happened to the kingdom of heaven when the storm winds began to blow, in the Roman empire. Every buzzard (army generals, politicians, potentates) began to run toward this vigorous, green tree of this parable. They could see that it was something that had life. They wanted to take shelter in it, and what I am going to read from secular history will let us see how they took shelter. “In 313 A.D., Constantine and his colleague Licinius, issued the edict of Milan, which proclaimed for the first time in history, the noble principles of religious toleration. This edict placed the Christian faith on an equality with paganism. The conversion of Constantine is one of the most important events in ancient history. A Roman emperor, himself a god to the subjects of Rome, became the worshiper of a crucified provincial of his empire. Because of his own conversion, he thus favored the Christians throughout his reign, and surrounded himself with Christian bishops, freed the clergy from taxation, and spent large sums of money building churches.” We have seen the evidence of his church building efforts, as we toured the land of Israel. His mother also became converted to Christianity. Her name was Helena. She took vast sums from the treasury of the Roman empire, and built churches on the various sacred spots mentioned in the Bible, including those places where Jesus performed miracles, as well as His birthplace, and the place where He was crucified. Even though his mother Helena was in charge of getting the work done, this was the work on Constantine, the Roman emperor. I might mention also, that he had 50 great Bibles published. Many of them are yet in the Vatican library even today. They are under glass, and cannot be touched, but they are there, huge thick books. Now many people will say, Oh, he must have been a wonderful saint of God. No. He was not that at all. In his subtle, deceptive way, Satan used Constantine to accomplish many of the things he wanted done. This Roman emperor was just a tool in Satan’s hand. Constantine even abolished the use of the cross as an instrument of punishment, simply because Jesus was crucified on one, but that did not make him a true Christian. For many centuries the cross had been used by the Romans as an official means of public execution. It was already in use prior to the crucifixion of Jesus, and many true saints after that, also hung upon those old crosses until Constantine abolished the use of them. He also enacted a law that required Sunday to be a day of rest. That is why the Seventh Day Adventist accuse us of following a Catholic practice, because we worship the Lord together on Sunday. But I have already read to you, where the early Christians were already worshiping on Sunday, long before Constantine, and it told why. They worshiped together on the day of the resurrection of their Lord and Savior. Just like we have already said, Constantine made it a law, but the practice of Sunday worship was already in effect, by the early church. To them, the first day of the week marked the beginning of the new creation.

ARIUS V/S ATHANASIUS

I will now read another little excerpt from secular history. This is in relation to the Nicaea meeting, to settle the dispute over the deity of Jesus Christ. “Significant of the emperor’s attitude toward Christianity was his action in summoning all the bishops in the different provinces to a gathering at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, which is in Turkey. The principle work of the council of Nicaea was the settlement of a great dispute which had arisen over the nature of Christ. (What we are reading this time, is from secular history, and does not give as many details as the church history we have read before, but it does allow us to see that both accounts harmonize.) Some theologians headed by Arius, a priest of Alexandria, which is in Egypt, maintained that Christ the Son, having been created by God the Father, was necessarily inferior to Him. Athanasius, another Alexandrian priest, opposed this view, and held that Christ was not a created being, but was in all ways, equal to God. The council accepted the arguments of Athanasius, condemned Arius as an heretic, and framed the Nicaea creed, which is still the accepted summary of Christian doctrine. Though thrust out of the church, Arianism lived to flourish anew among many of the German tribes of people in that hour.” Let me say this now, in respects to this other doctrine. Using the doctrine held by this priest named Athanasius, the Nicaea council came up with the concept that Jesus Christ was the second person of the Godhead. They declared that God the Father was a person, God the son was a person, and God the Holy Ghost was a person. That gave them their blessed trinity, which has always been declared to be such a great mystery, that no mortal being could ever understand it. They are absolutely right about one thing. God being divided up into 3 separate persons, and all three being equal in authority, could certainly never be reconciled to the many scriptures where God has spoken in the singular (I AM, I WILL, and so forth.) How could one speak like that, if everything had to be agreed upon by three separate persons? It would have to be WE, in all those places would it not? It took Satan more than 300 years to get that doctrine established, but Constantine played right into his hands. Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but by the time you get over to Pergamos, those deeds have turned into doctrines. Then those doctrines were laid on the council table there at Nicaea, and out comes a trinity, which the Catholic church holds to be so mystical that it makes it sacred. I wonder if any of them have ever asked themselves this question, How could Mary have been with child by the Holy Ghost, and that child be called the Son of God, the Son of the Highest? If the trinity were correct, then Jesus would have needed to be anointed by both the Father, and the Holy Ghost, because they who teach this doctrine, believe that all three are persons, and that they are all equal in authority. However, since we know assuredly, that this trinity concept of God is a false doctrine, we also understand that when Jesus was anointed by the Holy Ghost, He was anointed with all the fulness of the great eternal God. He became incarnated of the God that created all things. Now technically we could not rightfully say that this made Jesus the Son, God, even though He was endowed with all the fulness of that Spirit which is God the Father, for throughout His complete ministry, Jesus speaking as the Son of God, always spoke of His Father that dwelt in Him, as in John 14:10. If I could say this without someone giving it a wrong meaning, We could say that the physical body of the man called Jesus, housed both the mind of the Son, and the Father. He had a mind of His own, but it was completely submitted to the will of the Father that swelled in Him. In other words, in the ONE PERSON Jesus, the Christ, we see the ONE GOD, which is Spirit, in the office work of the Son of God. Then we would call your attention to how this ONE GOD, on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus the Son had been taken up, and seated on the right hand of power and authority, returned to the disciples in Spirit form, to dwell in them. That is what caused the apostle Paul to write, concerning this great mystery (Philippians 1:27) saying that, It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Some have said, Is it God in us, or is it Jesus in us? My dear Brother and Sister, when you see how the Spirit of the Father, and the spirit of the Son blended together into one Spirit, then you will understand, that when you receive the Holy Ghost, you are actually receiving both, and when a believer is truly immersed (baptized) into, or by this ONE SPIRIT, then that believer becomes one with both the Father, and with the Son. This blending together of the spirit is just like mixing smoke from different brush fires, once it is mixed together, it is one smoke. That is what Paul was looking at, when he wrote Colossians 3:3-4, saying, (3) “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in Glory.”

ONE GOD IN THREE OFFICES

In our message on the humanity, and the deity of Christ, we tried to show, how that before Jesus was baptized by John at the age of 30, He was not deity. He was simply a perfect human, just like we all would have been if sin had never entered the picture. He was a perfect human, because he did not come into this world through the normal man and woman relationship. His conception was of a divine nature, yet he came forth from the womb of a woman, just like all other little babies. Furthermore during the nine months that Mary carried him in her womb, he gained all of his human makeup from the very same elements that came from Mary’s human makeup. The important difference, and the thing that made him sinless and perfect, was the genes. God created an embryo in the womb of that virgin girl, bypassing the sin laden genes of all other humans. God’s own nature demanded that man’s sin debt be paid by the offering of a perfect sacrifice, and since it is impossible for mankind to produce such an offering, the loving Father Himself took the initiative, and by this creating process in Mary’s womb, allowed mankind to have such an accepted sacrifice. For the first 30 years of his life, the perfect Son of God was free to exemplify his perfect human nature before all mankind. He had a mind of his own, and could have done whatsoever he chose to do, but he always chose to do the will of God. But what we must see, is that the Father did not send His Son to the cross; He got inside him, and went with Him to the cross. Before the cross though, He allotted 3½ years of time whereby He would walk upon earth in this Son, and demonstrate the very nature of Himself, the eternal, and sovereign God of all creation. That is why Jesus speaking from His human mind would say, “The works that I do are not of me, but the Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” It was not a human force that produced those miracles; it was the Spiritual force of the very God of all creation, that caused those created things to go contrary to the very law that governed them. Jesus the man, could not walk upon the water during the first 30 years of His life, but that night when His disciples saw Him doing it, what they could not see, was the very God that created the law of gravity inside that human form, ruling His creation to suit the occasion. In other words, to defy the law of gravity. Therefore we would have to say, concerning this ONE GOD, manifested in three offices, He was Father, in creation. The He incarnated His Son for the purpose of redemption, and thirdly, in the form of the Holy Ghost. He is in those redeemed ones, regenerating, and reconciling them back to Himself. In other words, we do not become exactly like Jesus Christ the very moment we receive the Holy Ghost, but when He comes in, He is there to work on our natural from within us, and eventually we will be molded into the very image of His perfect Son Jesus, who became the firstborn from among the dead. It is ONE GOD, in three offices. Of course I realize that some of you have heard these things many times before, nevertheless we have to repeat them for the benefit of all those who have not heard them before.

SATAN’S MILLENNIUM

Now let us bring out another technical point concerning translations of these various scriptures. For instance, there is Matthew 1:18, 20, where it speaks of Mary conceiving of the Holy Ghost. That term Holy Ghost, should have been translated Holy Spirit, for God is Spirit, and God is Holy, but the term HOLY GHOST should only be used where it encompasses both the Spirit of the Father, and that of the Son, for it was that blended Spirit of the Father, and the Son that came to indwell the disciples on the day of Pentecost. In other words, the term ghost, actually implies, the spirit of a departed one. That is why, when we receive the Holy Ghost, it can be referred to as receiving the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of Jesus Christ either one. It is all the same thing after Calvary. When He walked upon earth, after His baptism there at the Jordan, Jesus had the Spirit of the Father without measure, in Him. Within the one vessel of clay was every attribute of the great eternal God. On the other hand, we do receive the Spirit by measure. We receive a measure of the Spirit, that is always sufficient to enable us to be overcomers. For the measure we receive of God’s Spirit, is greater than the spirit of our adversary, the devil. That is why the apostle John wrote, “For greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” In the darkest hour of human history, between 500 and 1500 A.D., it seemed like the Spirit of God had left His church. But no, He just simply would not have anything to do with Satan’s church. He allowed Satan to have a Millennium of darkness, knowing that His millennium of righteousness was still out in the future. It took about 500 years for Satan to get his church clothed with their robes of formality, rituals, and traditions, and then he ruled her for 1000 years, until Martin Luther broke from her ranks with a message of restoration; the just shall life by faith. So it looks like God is allotting the next 500 years to restore His bride church back to what Satan stripped the early church of. Then it will be time for the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ with His saints in righteousness. That Pergamos church age ran right on into the Dark Age period of time, and the 4th church age, which was the Thyatirean age, ran throughout the Dark Age period, until later 1500 A.D., when God anointed Luther for his role in the Reformation. Naturally the fourth parable of Matthew 13, spoke of the 4th age, just as the first three parables spoke of their corresponding ages, and that is what we will look at next, for I feel that we have said about enough about Pergamos, the 3rd church of the seven, and the 3rd age of the seven church ages.

THYATIRA

Let us go first, to the 13th chapter of Matthew, and read the parable that actually pointed to the Thyatira conditions. As we read this parable now, please remember that the church is always pictured as a woman, and that would naturally be true of the false church also. Alright, we are starting to read in Matthew 13:33. “Another parable spake He unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” Brothers and Sisters: I want you to know that the woman of that parable was the Roman Catholic Church, and meal has always been looked upon as the staple food of God. Meal makes bread, and the word of God is referred to in the Bible as bread. Therefore what we are looking at, is what Jesus said such a woman as the Catholic church would do with the word of God. Now we could look at the three measures of meal as three works of grace; justification, sanctification, and baptism of the Holy Ghost, for we know for sure that the Catholic church completely destroyed the reality of all three. Her leaven is her dogmas. She destroyed the reality of ONE GOD, in three offices, and substituted her great authority to make Him three separate persons. She took away baptism by immersion, and put in sprinkling. She took away the Lord’s supper, and put in a mass. Then she took away the new birth, and put in church confirmation. Therefore regardless of how you type the three measures of meal, it still winds up to be the leaven of the Catholic Church, the woman of Revelation, chapter 17, which is referred to as a whore. We will see her in this 4th church age that we are about to examine, and we will see the type set forth in the church at Thyatira. In that church, they had a woman named Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, taught false doctrine, and seduced God’s servants, causing them to commit fornication, and to misconduct themselves concerning things sacrificed unto idols. In other words, she was running things to suit herself. That was taking place right there in the first age, only 40 years after the apostle Paul founded this church, and Paul taught plainly, that a woman should not teach, nor usurp authority over a man. As we have already said, One cannot help but wonder how a church that was so on fire for the Lord, and that was founded upon apostolic truth, could get so far off course in just 40 years. This church at Thyatira was in worse shape than any of the others, and that is exactly why the Lord Himself chose her to type the conditions of the 4th church age. Yes, it definitely was the Lord Himself, who chose the seven churches that John should write to, and it was He that chose the order in which John should write about them, and He told him what to write. Therefore we see a definite purpose of God in the messages sent to these 7 churches. Their conditions in 96 A.D., were each to represent the spiritual condition of a certain age, during the dispensation of grace. But how many Christians before this last church age, ever knew that these letters actually had a message that reached beyond those local churches, to an age of time that would have universal conditions corresponding to the conditions mentioned in the letters? In just a few short letters, Jesus spoke of spiritual conditions that would affect the church of the living God, in seven different periods of time, that would span a nineteen hundred year period of time. That is how long it has been since John wrote those letters, and naturally we believe that we are living in the last part of the last church age, the age of Laodicea.

STAR MESSENGERS

In the first age, the apostle Paul stands out as the star messenger to that age. It was his ministry that founded these 7 churches, and many, many more. But when the original apostles had passed off the scene, a saint named Irenaeus picked the sword of the Spirit, and stood out as the star messenger to the 2nd age. Then a saint named Martin in the 3rd age. History shows that he stood head and shoulders above everyone else, in that age. He fought against that Nicolaitan doctrine for all he was worth, but the church still plunged headlong into one thousand years of almost total darkness. Did anyone have light during the Dark Ages, some may ask? Yes, there are a few, but the general downward direction of the church was not changed until after 1500 A.D., when a monk by the name of Martin Luther was anointed of the Lord to take a stand against that old Roman Catholic spirit of darkness. But before we get to him, we have another star messenger to speak of, the star messenger to the longest church age of any, Thyatira. History refers to this man as St. Columba, an Irishman, and a man that had many miracles in his ministry.

FIRE IN JESUS’ EYES

et us go to Revelation 2:18, at this time, and read the letter that John was instructed to write to that church at Thyatira, the church that typed the 4th church age. Now, just like all the others, this letter starts out, “Unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write.” This lets us know that there was a man in the congregation that was charged with the responsibility of furnishing leadership to the rest of them. God held him accountable for the destiny of the church, for he was the one that would have the say, as to what affect this message from the Lord would have upon the church as a whole, or he was the one responsible for seeing that they heard it. Therefore let me say once again, This word ANGEL, has a twofold application. First, it was to be the bishop, or leader of a certain congregation of believers, and then, it would have a universal scope of application, as it applied to the star messenger of each different church age during the dispensation of grace for Gentiles. Another thing I will call your attention to, is how the Lord Jesus addressed Himself to the church at Thyatira. He did not identify Himself to the other churches in that manner. Notice now, “These things saith the SON OF GOD, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass.” Just keep that in mind, and we will get back to it a little later, after we get some other things connected up.

TIME MOVES WESTWARD

Knowing how time always moves westward, we want to see if that is not just as true with the gospel, and with the church ages, and so forth. The first church age messenger (Paul) was a Jew that had been schooled and raised as a Pharisee, but he was of Greek descent, coming from a place called Tarsus, a city in southern Turkey. His Greek background served to acquaint him with the environment of the Gentiles. He knew their culture, and their manner of life. He was very familiar with their worship of idols, and needed no one to explain to him what they were doing. Neither did he need any, other than the Holy Ghost, to instruct him on how to approach them with the gospel of Christ. He stood in the midst of Mars’ Hill one day, and said to them. Acts 17: 22 “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. (23) For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.” In other words, we can see that the star messenger to the 1st age, strictly had all the qualifications, and association right there in Asia to start the setting. Then we find that Irenaeus was the star messenger to the 2nd age, and Polycarp the bishop to the 2nd church, and they were linked to Paul moving from the first age to the second age. Then coming to St. Martin, the man commonly accepted to be the star messenger to the 3rd age, we see the westward trend. He was born in Hungary, but most of his work concerning the gospel was in France. However, he did establish a foothold in the island of England. He was an uncle to St. Patrick, the same St. Patrick that has a day set aside to honor him.

As I read from history how the ministry of St. Martin reached all the way to the British Isles, I was reminded of the great conflict that has raged between Catholics and Protestants there in Ireland for so long. We have had a tendency to think of the English people as one native type of people that have lived there for centuries, but they were not. History allows us to see that back around the first century, and into the second century, the people in the British Isles were called Britons. It was called the land of Brittany. But in later centuries as the gospel began to be proclaimed by various missionaries, having more or less Eastern and Asiatic influence, it made a difference. But let us just skip down a little of what history has recorded, just from early European history. The Anglo Saxons, which were actually Celtic people from out of the regions of eastern Germany, mainly like the people of Austria, Swiss and so forth, had migrated across the continent of Europe, into the regions of the British Isles. These Anglo Saxons also brought to Britain their heathen faith. Christianity did not come to them until the close of the 6th century. At this time more or less, intercourse had sprung up between the people of Kent (History shows that the areas now known as England were once called Kent.) Lying next to the continent and the Francs, and Gauls. Ethelbert the King of Kent, has married the Francish princess called Bertha, and he allowed his Christian wife from the continent, to bring a bishop to her new home, and gave her the deserted church of St. Martin, at Canterbury. I know you have all heard of Canterbury, in London. That is exactly where St. Martin had a church in his day. So this heathen king married a French princess from the mainland, who was a Christian, and gave her this particular church building that St. Martin had used, and before long, it was a place of worship with great influence. Queen Bertha’s fervent desire for the conversion of her husband, and his people, prepared the way for an event of first importance in English history. (It mentions the pope, and tells what happened.) There was a bishop sent by the Catholic church, (and Augustine was his name) with about 40 other monks, to the British Isles, and were given complete freedom in their work. The king, being already well disposed toward the Christian faith, greeted the missionaries kindly, and told them that they were free to convert whom they could. Before very long, he and his court also embraced Christianity, and the people of Kent soon followed the royal example. The monks were assigned a residence in Canterbury, a city which has ever since remained the religious capitol of England.

WHEN GOD MOVES – WE MOVE

Now Brothers and Sisters: We have read these excerpts from history, in an attempt to show why the British Isles are now coming into view, in relationship to this particular age. Because then, as we go into this fourth church age, and draw from this Asiatic church, which in 96 A.D., was only about 40 years old, we get everything that exemplifies the age to which it corresponds. St. Martin was an uncle to St. Patrick who came on years later. This St. Patrick was a man that really helped to Christianize the Irish people. Not that he was a star messenger, but just that he was a man who had a tremendous impact with the gospel message among those people. It all turned out to be Catholic, in years to come, but nevertheless he was mightily used. Then after the death of St. Patrick, years passed, and here comes an Irishman by the name of Columba, who according to history, was the star messenger to the 4th age, the age that this Thyatira church exemplified, the church we will read about, here in a few minutes. Before we go on though, let me say this for the benefit of any new people, you may get the idea at first, that I am just picking on individual people. That is not the case at all. It is just a case where, if we speak the truth according to the revelation of God’s word, it is going to cut across people’s denominational beliefs, for God has never intended for His true church to be a denomination. The truth is supposed to set us free from all of that. You could have gone to church all your life, and still miss God. Thousands upon thousands have been loyal to their particular churches, just like the Jews were, in going to the temple. Yet the Messiah they had been taught to expect, came right among them, and they failed to receive Him. They knew what was written in the scrolls, but when those prophecies began to be fulfilled, they could not see a thing. So it is today. Some people work so hard being loyal to a church system, yet they are completely alienated from true spiritual fellowship with God or man. The devil makes sure of that, for he does not care how much you may talk about Jesus, if you do not know the truth. Even in spite of adverse circumstances though, God is able, by the power of His Spirit, to knock on the hearts door of a particular individual here and there, and cause truth from His book to open up to them. Methodist people have said from time to time, Why is he always picking on the Methodist church, the Baptist likewise, and others? But let me say again, I do not pick on any of them, I just try to show from the word of God where they all missed the boat. I was a Methodist at one time, and before that, I was even baptized by the Church of Christ Church, but now I just have to thank Lord for opening up my eyes, and allowing me to see that it is not these denominations that He is coming back for. He is coming for people from every nation under heaven, that has allowed the Holy Ghost to lead them into all truth, just like Jesus said in John 13:13. I would like to hold the Bible up before the face of every denominational person upon the face of this earth, and say, Show me your denomination in here. Read me your articles of faith out of this book. They cannot do it. They can trace what they are following, back as far as their founder, and no further. Some of them even feel that there is virtue in belonging to an old line church; one that has a name such as Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and so on. But I am here to tell you, that if there was any virtue in an old name, I would want to join the Roman Catholic church. It is the oldest one of them all. Oh! But Bro. Jackson, we all know that they are wrong. Yes, we do. But when was the last time you stood before the mirror of God’s word, and let it reflect a true image of your spiritual soul? I am telling you, mortal creatures, We are living in the end time. YES! THE END TIME! It is high time we started getting ourselves dressed up in our wedding garments, if we expect to be in the bride of Christ, and that can only be done by those who have a true revelation of the word of God, which you will never find in any of your manmade systems. In the days of Jesus, the Jews were divided up into many sects, some Pharisees, some Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, and such like, and they all failed to recognize who Jesus was, except for a few individuals. Brother, if you are going to walk with God in the light of truth, it isn’t up to you to choose the route you will take. You just make sure you hear the voice of Jesus, and start following; He will lead you in the path He has chosen, and I guarantee you this much, He will not lead you to join a denominational church system. That is exactly why I am not in the Church of Christ Church anymore, and also why I am no longer a Methodist. The true church of the living God is not a system; it is a spiritual organism, filled and led by the Holy Ghost whose indwelling presence is for the sole purpose of leading every true believer to perfection. He is the one that furnished the hidden manna for us to eat of, which is the true bread of life, the revealed word of the living God. Did the church at Thyatira have it, you may say? Yes. That is what it was founded upon, just 40 years prior to 96 A.D., but do you know what happened? They went just so far with it, and stopped, just like the Baptists, the Methodists, and all the rest. In other words, God does not want us to put a period to what we have, and stop. He expects us to be ready to move on, when He says, Move on. He demonstrated that when He led the children of Israel out of Egypt, going before them in a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. When He moved, they moved.

ONE TRUE MEDIATOR

Maybe now, we are ready to get back to Revelation 2:18, and look at the Lord’s message to the local church in Thyatira, before we try to deal with the age of time it portrayed. Let us read it again. “And unto the ANGEL of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass.” Before we read the actual message to the church, let me just make a few remarks about why the Lord identified himself to them like that. From all the available evidence, I would say that Thyatira must have been a wicked city. Overall environment usually has a lot to do with what kind of people settle in a geographical area. Sodom and Gomorrah was a good example of that. It was an oasis in the Jordan valley where the right people like to go for retirement, and where perverted and immoral sorts, found a haven. But after a while immorality affected the whole society socially, so much so, that a man like Abraham would not stay there, and that kind will always attract others of their own kind. Thyatira must have been a wicked city like that. A city whose social environment attracted a low morals society of people. Nevertheless God did redeem enough of them to establish a church there. But over the years Satan hammered away at them through the environment of the city as a whole, and in 40 years time, it was hardly recognizable as the church founded off of the teaching of the apostle Paul. That is why the Lord identified Himself to them as He did. To the church at Ephesus, He was He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Then to Smyrna, He was the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive. To Pergamos, it was He which hath the sharp sword with two edges. But to Thyatira, It was the Son of God, who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass. No church system upon the face of the earth ever used the term Son of God, any more than the Catholic church. That was because they made Him the second person of a trinity, instead of the Son of God in whom the Father was incarnated. I say, Why should He not have fire His eyes, when the Catholic Church, in that Thyatira age, has taken Him completely out of His mediatorial office, and elevated His mother Mary, to a position above Him? How do Catholics pray? Hail Mary, mother of God, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death. You never hear them pray, Heavenly Father, In the name of Jesus Christ, be merciful on me. All you ex-Catholics know Mary got all the attention. You know how you prayed. Why shouldn’t the Son be angry? I know you have all heard the old expression, That man is so mad, he has fire in his eyes. That is exactly what I see here, and the feet like fine brass, speak of how He took our place, and was judged for our sins. Now you may say, Was that church like that, in 96 A.D., when John wrote to them? As I have pointed out already, You cannot say that every deed was in exact likeness to the deeds of the age represented, but it was the same old spirit of Satan both in the church at Thyatira, and also in the Thyatirean age to follow later. The Lord knew what that perverse spirit was leading to. He did not have fire in His eyes at Ephesus. He did not have fire in His eyes at Smyrna, nor at Pergamos. But he did at Thyatira, and I believe we can understand why. Don’t tell me that the high priest can go on for hundreds of years, never being prayed to for intercession, yet seeing mortal creatures on earth, bypass Him, and pray to Mary. You find it in the Bible where God says, I am a jealous God. That applies to every situation where people rob God of His proper glory and honor. Trying to bypass the one and only true mediator between God and man, is just as serious in the eyes of God, as when people just outrightly worship idols. Therefore I ask you to just think about this for a moment. The Catholic church readily confesses that Jesus the Christ, was (and still is) the Son of God, but that is all they will allow Him to be. They have made Him into a little boy, subject to His mother, and robbed Him completely of His true recognition as the only mediator between God and sinful man. The very fact that He stood in judgement for you and me, gives Him the rightful position as our mediator, He has the authority to intercede for us.

FAITH WORKS – HUMAN WORKS

Alright now, I believe we can see why Jesus identified Himself to the church at Thyatira as He did, so let us read verse 19, where we will begin to catch the message He had for them. “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” Of course we know that the first works mentioned here, are works of true faith, that the Lord always looks at first. This is characteristic of all churches founded upon truth. But notice what He mentioned next. This word is not even mentioned in the other letters. In the Ephesian letter He said, You have left your first love. In that particular statement the translators had no difficulty translating the word used, into LOVE, instead of charity, which in the old English meant the same thing. But when they got to the word used in this Thyatira letter, they did not use the word LOVE, for in this case it was not the same undefiled love that the church at Ephesus had left. This church at Thyatira had no doubt fallen upon the idea of trying to convert the whole wicked city, and that naturally degenerated into a program, of what they considered to be good works. But the Lord does not look upon all our labors, as labors of pure undefiled LOVE, if we are just functioning as part of a program of seemingly good works. Therefore the translators left the word here, translated as charity, in order to make a difference. (Listen to me now Saints, Let us make this application only to these letters written to these seven churches, and not try to make it hold true every place the word charity is used in the Bible.) We all know that there is not a more benevolent organization upon the face of the earth, than the Catholic church, and of course they would say that it is the love of God that causes them to be so charitable. They build schools, hospitals, refugee shelters, and all such like, and the world looks upon them as being full of love and concern for humanity, but when you know the truth of it all, you know that it is all just a part of an overall program of religious deception. Now Brothers and Sisters: I hope none of you will think I am saying that there are no sincere Catholic individuals. That is not what I am saying at all. But what I would have you see, is that they are completely dedicated to a system of religion that has no life of God in it. They will serve the system faithfully all their lives, die in their sins, and miss God completely, because they never come to a true relationship with the only giver of eternal life. The pope, nor none of his cardinals, nor bishops, nor any one else, can ever impart eternal life to any one, no matter how sincere and faithful they may be. This is true, not only of the Catholic Church, but of her Protestant daughters also. Take for instance, the woman that stood on the street corner passing out tracts for her church, and then went home too tired to fix supper for her family saying, I have been working for the Lord all day, and just have no strength left in me. Do any of you believe that was a true work of the Lord? No, it was not. She was only being faithful to a program of her system of religion, and God wasn’t even in it. So this is what I see here at the church in Thyatira; their work, and charity, and service, and faith, had lost its purity. They were still doing the same things, as far as the natural vision could detect, but the genuineness of pure love and motives had left them. Their love had deteriorated from the true love that was present 40 years earlier. In other words Saints, when you get yourself wrapped up in a religious program, you become obligated to do the same thing for everyone. You cannot be led of the Holy Ghost as Jesus was, or you will have a law suit filed against you, or be kicked out of the system, or even be shot. Jesus Christ would heal one person by the direction of the Spirit of the Father that dwelt in Him, and pass up a dozen more that needed healing just as badly. Why? Simply because He would not do anything apart from the leading of the Spirit of the Father, no matter how worthy it might seem to the natural mind. Therefore for the present, I will just say that the word translated charity in verse 19, pertained to a perverted love, which was not the love of God at all. They had allowed the devil to so motivate their programs, they were functioning on a very low level spiritually. That is why you see two sets of works mentioned here. The 2nd set of works, which He said, was more than the 1st, was works designed strictly for humanitarian purposes, with no spiritual benefit whatsoever. Just look for instance, at all the schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and all such like, that have been built by the Catholic Church to promote their religious system, but tell me, How many souls have ever been led into a true relationship with the Lord through these institutions? Of course they have a vision. So do all these Protestant preachers who are involved in these great programs, but where does the Lord fit into it? That is the question. I will tell you this, a man like Phillip who went down to Samaria, and had such a outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon his ministry, would never be very popular among the religions orders of our day. For when the Spirit of God spoke to him and said, Go out into the desert, he did not say, But Lord, I cannot leave here now; Just look at all the people that are getting saved. No. He just simply said, Hallelujah! The Master is calling me. Good bye folks, I will see you later, and away he went. By the standards of world religion, a man would have to be crazy to do a thing like that, but God requires it, if He is going to be in what we do.

GOD PAYS HIS OWN BILLS

God does not require us to sponsor soup suppers, chicken fries, rummage sales, and all such as this, to support His work upon earth. The Bible says that God owns the cattle of a thousand hills, and I believe it. If you look at it properly, you will see that God created all things, owns everything also. He therefore can do with it whatsoever He chooses. As for myself, I have always felt that a God that could not support, and take care of His own, is not worth serving. That goes for having to beg for offerings to support what you are involved in, no matter how worthy it may seem, you had better check up to see whether you truly are doing a service for God, or not. I will tell you this much right now, The God of the Bible is not a beggar. Therefore if you are doing it, you are bringing reproach upon His great name. That is the same as saying, There are some things that God cannot do, and He will fail unless we help Him. Personally, I could never entrust my soul into the hands of such a God as I see portrayed by so many preachers of our day. Furthermore all these welfare programs, clinics and hospitals that are built by religious organizations for poverty stricken people, would be a wonderful thing if the government did it, but that has never been a commission of the church of the living God. Mark 16 verse (15) “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Not build hospitals and schools). (16) He that believeth and is baptize shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned,” (even if he is baptized.) This was the only commission given to the church, and anything you may read in the Bible that seems to justify anything else, was a ministration among the saints, and not a charity program set up as a means of trying to win people to the Lord. What did Jesus teach His disciples, in Matthew 6:30-33, concerning everyday life? Let us read it, (30) “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more cloth you, O ye of little faith? (31) Therefore take no thought (worry) saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (32) For after all these things do the gentiles seek; (or unbelievers.) For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Does that sound like true children of God should ever have to beg for necessary things in life? Do you not believe God is able to keep His word? If you do, then obey His word, and allow Him to lead you into whatever He wants you to do, and He will pay the bill for it.

RELIGIOUS BLASPHEMERS

We have been to India twice, to preach the gospel, and some of the first questions they asked us was, Will you build us a school? Will you build us a seminary? Will you build us a clinic? Where in the world did they get the idea that we might do a thing like that? Simply because denominational missionary programs are launched like that. I will say this also, It would take a totally blind person not to see the need for all such facilities, and I am glad for them to have them, but my point is this, and I hope you have caught it, God never meant for the gospel to be preached in this manner. I have heard various ones say, You cannot get the spiritual attention of a physically suffering person, unless you take care of their physical needs first. But that is not true. You cannot find it taught in the scriptures. It is just the opposite of that. God sees the spiritual condition of the soul to be the first concern. If we take care of that, He has never promised to supply the needs of all the unbelieving people of the world, but He has promised to supply all that a true child of His needs. But we cannot make a true disciple of God with anything less than the truth that is revealed for our hour of time. But let me just give you a little example of what the gospel has been watered down to, by some of these big preachers of the world. A brother in the church handed me a little book the other night, and I read where some big preacher down here in Virginia made blasphemous statements challenging the fundamentalists, who he said were always dwelling on technicalities of the scriptures, such as whether Jesus was born of a virgin, whether He rose from the dead, whether He was God incarnate, and so forth. He said, “We do not have time to argue over such little details. We couldn’t care less, whether He rose from the dead.” Brother, I will tell you one thing, He wouldn’t have said a thing like that in the presence of the apostle Paul, and get by with it. Paul plainly said, Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead the third day, according to my gospel. Hallelujah! Now who wants to go up against Paul’s revelation? Paul would have said, Mr. I turn you over to the devil for the destruction of your flesh, that you may learn not to blaspheme concerning the word of God. If any of you think we do not have a bunch of religious blasphemers running rampant in our day, just turn on your radio, or your television, and listen to some of them. Most of them couldn’t care less about the major doctrines of the faith. All they are concerned about is preaching a little 5 minute sermonette, and taking up a large offering. It takes a lot of money to support their programs, and there is usually not two cents worth of spiritual help to be found in any of them. People just seem to get so wrapped up in what they are doing, they forget why they are doing it, and it just turns into a human effort, with God on the outside. He no longer has any part in it. So that seems to be what happened in the church at Thyatira, causing the Lord to say, “I know your works, and charity and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; the last to be more than the first.” They no doubt started a lot of fellowship programs, trying to win the worldly people of the city to the Lord. But that is not the way the Lord Jesus commissioned the church to do that. Neither is that the way Paul instructed Timothy. In 2nd Timothy 4:2, we find Paul writing to Timothy these words, (2)”Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound DOCTRINE; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” You may think that scripture just applied to a certain age, but I am here to tell you that Satan has tried to sidetrack every true work of God that has ever been started. Furthermore, history itself proves that he has had a lot of success in his efforts. In less than 40 years, he managed to get the church in Thyatira off course, and you must remember, they started out with an apostolic founded church. What happened? The same old thing that has happened ever since. Satan began to whisper into their ears. Your doctrine is too strong. You need to ease up a little until after you get people saved, and then you can teach them. Just tell them about how God loves them, and how he has already paid their sin debt, and all they have to do to be saved, is join the church. Isn’t that the same compromising, watered down version of the gospel that you hear in most churches today? Brother, if the truth will not get them in, you just as well leave them alone where they are. The only thing you can make otherwise, is a make-believer. There are thousands of ways to get people into your church fellowship, but there is only one way to get them born of the Spirit, and that is to preach the truth of God’s word to them, just like Peter, James, John, and Paul preached it. Whenever a preacher, or a church, get their mind set on winning a whole city to the Lord, they always depart from the true leading of the Spirit of God, and begin to institute programs. That is what the Catholic church did in the church age that this Thyatira church typed. They started building hospitals, schools, relief centers, and all such like, and said, We will convert the world, and what they could not do by charitable deeds, they did with the sword. That was their church program. The church in Thyatira did not go to those extremes, but they did depart from the pure gospel they were founded upon, and they allowed Satan to run the church, which we will see in the next verse we read, verse 20.

SELF APPOINTED PROPHETESS

After the Lord reminds Thyatira of what He knows, He continues saying, (20) “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” All seven of these churches had women in them, and I believe many of these women stood right there in Ephesus, and heard Paul preach and teach the gospel. I believe they learned proper conduct and principles both spiritually and naturally. I also believe there were true prophetesses in those churches. There is nothing wrong with a woman being referred to scripturally, as a prophetess. For we realize that Acts 21:8-9, speaks of Phillip the evangelist having 4 daughters that did prophesy. We also read of Anna a prophetess, in the account where Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to make an offering for him. But these women did not call themselves prophetess, their lives and service to God, caused others to refer to them in that way. God made them what they were. But we see here, that Thyatira had a woman in the congregation that called herself a prophetess, and she was doing the very thing that the apostle Paul forbade women to do, teach and usurp authority over men. The Lord said, You have allowed her to teach and seduce my servants. Now to teach in this case, is to explain scriptures, and to seduce, is to deceive, mislead, beguile, or take away certain convictions. That is exactly what happened in the garden of Eden. The serpent beguiled (seduced) Eve. In this case, when the Lord said, My servants, He was speaking of the ministry, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. A large church like this one, in that 1st age, no doubt had many preachers in the congregation. Not necessarily representing all five offices, but certainly some of them. In modern terminology of today, the Lord might have just said, That woman taught my clergy to commit fornication. Oh Bro. Jackson, surely you do not mean that literally. Yes I do! Get you some history that goes back 1900 years, and read how Gentiles lived in those days. They were pagans, they worshiped pagan gods, and a part of many of their worship practices included some sort of sexual involvement. Many of them were converted to Christ, and lifted up out of their former ways of life. But time has passed, and somehow this Gentile woman who claimed to be a prophetess, slipped in among them, and got their attention. She was a tool of Satan, of course, but I am sure she really put up a convincing spiritual front. More and more, she would prophesy among them, until they no doubt, looked upon her as some great woman of God. Her next move was to gradually inject some of the old pagan practices back into their worship services, until she actually had the preachers committing fornication with her. This, then, gave her power over them. (It goes on in Washington, D.C., all the time, in the political realm.) It was a literal condition in the church, and the Lord warned them of the consequences, but at the same time, this condition was setting a type for the spiritual condition of the 4th church age. Pergamos was guilty of some of the same thing, but Thyatira had the condition that typed the age when Catholicism would come into prominence. Once that spirit of the Thyatira church settled upon the world, somewhere around 500 A.D., it went right on through into 1500 A.D., and out of all that perverting of the gospel, came a clergy called the priesthood with the bishop of Rome being elevated to a position as the supreme pontiff, (pope) universal head of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then came celibacy of the priesthood. They made it a law. No priest was allowed to choose a wife. I have never yet been able to figure out how they justified that. The pope of Rome has always claimed to be the successor of St. Peter, and we all know that Peter had a wife. In Matthew 8:14, we find where Jesus came into Peter’s house, and saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever, and He healed her. Now I ask you, Why did Roman Catholicism adopt celibacy? I will tell you exactly why. She was following in the footsteps of her ancient, pagan religions. Those pagan priests did not marry, but they had what was called vestal virgins, that they had immoral relations with. In other words, they were the forerunners of the Roman Catholic nuns. The devil was very happy to get that pagan practice introduced into the ranks of Christianity. Now Saints, I realize that some of you may have trouble believing that a practice like that actually existed in what the world looks upon as the mother of all Christianity. But I want you to know that I have read some of the stories that have come out of Mexico, Cuba, Canada, and various places, concerning how those black robed priests used those young nuns as common prostitutes. Many young girls have wanted to dedicate their lives to the Lord, and have become nuns, only to find out after it was much too late, how those priests molested them. Some of you may say, Bro. Jackson: That is a serious accusation. I know. But it is the truth, and it is about time to take the wraps off of it, and let the world see what that old system is really run by. Most of them will not believe it, but nevertheless, it is the truth, and some will be helped by it. If any of you are hearing this for the first time, I invite you to open your Bibles and read the 17th and 18th chapters of the book of Revelation, and you will see that as early as 96 A.D., Roman Catholicism was already pronounced to be the mother of harlots, a great whore. That was before she even came into existence. Well, what are we supposed to do about it? Just do what the Bible says, if you are still a part of such a system, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4) In the 14th chapter it plainly tells us the communism is going to gnash on her, and burn her with fire. That is still ahead. Communism will destroy Catholicism, but Communism will never rule the world. It will be time for the King of Peace to rule the world. All other Empires have risen, and then fallen, but the power of the Catholic church as an institution, still remains. She has carried on her political intercourse with every form of government upon the face of the earth. Why do you think South America is in the shape she is today? I am talking about the political chaos, and wars. It is because the time is nigh, for the Catholic church to take a tumble. She has ruled in everyone of those dictators and potentates for centuries, but when that Communistic spirit began to hit this world, the Catholic church felt a tremor. It was worse than when Mount St. Helens erupted, and the fallout from this eruption has Catholicism worried. These struggles you are seeing in so many places, like Poland, are not between the devil and Christianity. It is just something the Lord is allowing, to set the stage for the week of Daniel. That woman of Revelation 17:3, must ride that beast until it comes time for her destruction, and right now, the woman (Catholic church) is busy calling all her Protestant daughters back home through this great ecumenical movement in the churches. Come on home, daughters. Let us be one, so we can fulfill the prayer of Jesus, in John 17. This old ill famed woman has many daughters, and the doctrines of every last one of them are an abomination to God. But God will wait until the week of Daniel fulfills itself, and then He will settle the score once and for all.

JEZEBEL REPENTED NOT

Now just to get our thinking back to our text, let me say once again, That Jezebel in the church at Thyatira, typed that old Catholic church that has been committing fornication throughout her whole existence. We mentioned what goes on between some of those priests, and some of the nuns, but you can be sure of this one thing, her spiritual fornication is the most abominable to God, of all. Therefore let us read verse 21, and see what God had to say about that woman Jezebel, before we go any further. (Revelation 2:21) “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” In other words, I would say that God no doubt dealt with her through His convicting Spirit, many times, but she failed to take heed, and now the Lord is saying, (22) “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” You must keep in mind, this letter was written in 96 A.D., still in the 1st age, but that age of martyrdom began to strike, this was the very thing the Lord was going to pull that church into. Because He intended to judge that evil which was in that church, by the great blood bath that hit the 2nd age, and that set the type for what He will do to Catholicism, as the great tribulation closes out this age. Of course some will say, But Bro. Jackson, most of those people are innocent. That may be true, but they have sold their souls to an Antichrist system, and God cannot overlook that. Neither will He overlook those blasphemous remarks from supposed to be, preachers, no matter how popular they may be. Satan has blinded their eyes, and is deceiving them into believing they are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the word of God, which most of them have very little time for, tells us differently, and lets us know that they are the false church. God will burn that when it has run its course, along with all of its offspring. Brothers and Sisters, do not even think God was just having John write idle words to these churches. Every last one of them portrayed a true picture, or type of a particular age of time in the life of Christianity. Therefore I believe it will be beneficial to your spiritual stature, if you can just see these types in relationship to an age. God has allowed us this privilege here in these last days, so we can have an opportunity to prepare ourselves for what is just ahead. We must purge ourselves of all ties with these illegitimate systems, and dress ourselves with true righteousness, if we are a part of the bride of Jesus Christ. You can read Revelation 19:7-8, and you will see that the bride, or wife of Jesus Christ, is to make herself ready.

ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN BORN

As we continue here, with this local church at Thyatira, we must see how this woman by the name of Jezebel types perfectly the Catholic church that ascended to such a place of power over its people in the 4th church age. No doubt this woman presented herself as a very godly woman, to that church in Thyatira. She probably spent a lot of time visiting sick folks, helping the poor, and talking about how they should love each other. Then as opportunity opened up for her, she would prophesy good things to them, and no doubt, call attention to the other women of the Bible that prophesied. Naturally after so long a time, people begin to put a lot of confidence and trust in such a person. (The devil always takes time to lay the groundwork for his plots.) After she gained their trust, then little by little she could begin to lead them astray. Naturally she did not fool everyone, for in every church, there were always some who were looked upon as overcomers, and the promises were to them. But a great number of these Thyatira folks began to follow her, and look upon her as a great spiritual leader, a fresh voice from God, and she had no trouble leading them back into pagan practices, for some of them probably had not been converted from such practices very long. Furthermore it enabled them to win the favor of the other people of the city, for they were living down on their level. These things do not happen in a day’s time, but little by little Satan just strips down, and leaves them standing completely naked, spiritually speaking. They lose their vision, they lose their enthusiasm, and just simply fall into a ritualistic pattern. Jezebel had those men who were referred to as servants, eating out of her hand. She taught them that it was all right to commit fornication with her, (Naturally she did not call it that) and also, that there was nothing wrong with eating things sacrificed unto idols, and all such like. But she did not stop there, for as we read verse 22, we find that her relationship with them has gone past fornication, and it is now referred to as adultery. That speaks of a marriage relationship. Somehow she got the idea that she could marry all these men, and they fell for the idea. That is completely contrary to anything you could ever find in the Bible. Even in the Old Testament where polygamy was practiced, it was never a case where one woman had more than one husband, it was always the men that had more than one wife. So she has turned this completely around, and we see in verse 23, that children have been born to her. For the Lord said, (Revelation 2) (21) “I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (22) Behold I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her, into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; (Remember what this woman types, (Catholicism) and remember who the children of Catholicism are, and you will plainly see how all these denominational systems are going to wind up.) (23) And all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” It certainly looks like the Lord was going to make an example out of His actions against these evil ones here, for He said, “All the churches will know.” Brother, when that bloodbath of martyrdom hit the church, there in that 2nd age, God made sure that all this evil received its just reward. He judged it right there. Some of those old saints earned a martyr’s crown during that period, but many others, who were called saints, went down to the grave in disgrace as they earned their reward for their evil. God judged that particular church, because they strayed so far away from the original church. He had fire in His eyes, and He had a reason to be angry, for they had been founded upon the same revelation as all the other churches. They knew good and well that a woman was not to teach, nor have authority over men, and they had certainly been taught not to commit fornication, nor eat that which was sacrificed to idols, and here they were, doing just the complete opposite of every bit of it.

NICOLAITAN TAKEOVER

When you transfer what we see in this Thyatira church, over to the age it types, you can easily see why God would hate that old spirit of the Catholic church, for it has followed the same path of false teaching and fornication. Christianity started out pure, undefiled, and full of true works of faith, but when the tares started making their inroads into the assemblies of the saints, she began to slide down, down, down, until she could hardly be recognized as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ any more. That old Nicolaitan spirit which the lord hated, just kept eating away, until the clergy had conquered the laity. That put the church of the living God under a priesthood, instead of a five fold ministry like it started out. Go back and read the history of the Dark Ages, and you will see that those black robed priests so elevated themselves above everyone else, that they became feared by the laity of the congregation. They demanded respect and honor, and no one was ever allowed to say anything contrary to what they said, and get by with it. They dressed Christianity up like ancient pagan religion, and then Satan just sat back and ran the whole thing. The gospel was perverted until the church of that hour lived on the same level as the people of the world. When they got a convert, the only thing that was changed was his belief; his life style remained the same. In certain areas of the world missionaries would go, and gain converts; if they had been sacrificing chickens to some pagan God, they would still sacrifice their chickens, but in a different order. What was preached as the gospel in those days, had no life changing power to it. The old leaven had really done its work. We all know that leaven mixed into the other ingredients of bread, is to change the consistency of it. Leaven will cause those other ingredients to rise out of proportion, and that is exactly what was portrayed in that 4th parable of Matthew 13: 33 “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” The parable does not say that everything will be exactly alike, but rather like unto, or similar. In this case let us just say that the parable no doubt relates to the three definite works of grace. No, there is not three different ways to get saved, but there are three important phases of the new birth. You have justification, sanctification, and baptism of the Holy Ghost. Infant baptism has no place in this, but the old mother of harlots, and many of her daughters have it just the same. The first thing they lost was the revelation of the Godhead, and as I see it, everything else in God’s storehouse is hinged upon that one thing. The Godhead revelation is the key to all of God’s storehouse of treasures. We would like to say also, that water baptism, by immersion, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just an option; it is an absolute requirement for true believers, no matter what you may have been told by some of these compromiser’s. When the Bible says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,” that is exactly what it means. That is all God will accept in this hour when the truth has been restored to the church. Bro. Jackson: What do you mean, “the church”? I will be quick to tell you, that the church is not a building some place; for the true church is a universal body of believers that are following the word of God, instead of man’s tradition.

A WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN

The Catholic church will boast because she is the oldest religious organization, says she is the mother church. Now it is true that she is the oldest organization, and it is also true that she is the mother of all these harlot denominations, but she does not go back as far as the true body of believers that actually make up the church of the living God. As for being the oldest, the Bible shows that Methuselah was the oldest man that ever lived, but he sure wasn’t the most spiritual. No, the virtue is not in age; only a pure heart is acceptable to God, and he couldn’t care less about age. Neither does it matter so much to God whether all are able to pronounce every syllable of every word correctly or not; He knows what we mean. As for this woman named Jezebel that set the type of the Catholic church, I can just see her now, as she exerted her own influence and dynamic personality above that of the men in that church. I have, through earlier years, come in contact with various women preachers, and every last one of them have had a very dominating personality. It was though you could almost hear them saying, I may be a woman, but don’t you cross my path. You could not help but notice, in every congregation that had a woman pastor, how the men of that congregation would lose their masculine headship. They just sat like little poodle dogs, ready to do whatever she dictated to them. If they ever give one thought to what the apostle Paul said about not allowing a women to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, you could not tell it. But then, to the other extreme, is where we find churches that will not even allow a woman to open her mouth in the worship services. Both of these are wrong. God is not glorified in either case. Women may sing, pray, prophesy, shout and praise the Lord any time it does not interrupt the order of the service, just like the men may. They are just not scripturally allowed to interpret the scriptures, nor rule in the affairs of the church. In reality, Christianity was never meant to be a religious order with authority to rule over anyone. But do you think Catholicism every cared about that? She has ruled dictators for centuries, and only a few men ever dared take a stand against her dogmas, and domineering ways before the hour of the Reformation, and when certain ones did, that was God, giving Catholicism an opportunity of repentance, just like He did that Jezebel woman at Thyatira, but there was no repentance. These black robed priests have been worse than the Mafia ever even thought of being. They have much blood on their hands, to give account of before the very throne of God, before they are cast alive into the lake of fire. Now you may say, Bro. Jackson, I have known a lot of priests, that were never like that. Nevertheless they belong body and soul, to the same old religious order that has always been used by the devil to do his dirty work ever since she came into power. Revelation chapter 17, is not just referring to Catholicism of the Dark Ages, for John was being shown what her end would be. Notice what the angel said to him in verse (1), “Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgement of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. (Verse 15, tells us that the waters upon which the great whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.) (2) With whom (the whore) the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication (her doctrines). (3) So he carried me away in the spirit into to wilderness: and I saw a woman (a church is always considered in the female gender) sit upon a scarlet colored beast, (scarlet is that old Roman Catholic color) full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” We will not try to deal with everything we see here in Chapter 17, for we have other articles on that, but I do want you to see the Roman Catholic church in this description of that great whore the angel showed John, so let us read a little more. Verse (4) “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, (You may not see too much of that in the Catholic churches of America and Canada, but go to the old world, where Catholicism originated, and in every cathedral, some of them large enough seemingly to cover 4 city blocks, and their libraries, and museums, you will see everything garnished with gold, picture frames and everything. You could never even begin to estimate what would be the value of all that she owns and controls. It is just Satan’s way of using the “church” to disguise his plan of eventually controlling the wealth of the world.) having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (5) And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (6) And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” All right, we will stop there. But I believe you can see that this great whore, the mother of harlots, was not just some little old honky tonk girl. What John saw was s sophisticated, aristocratic type of woman. This kind is always portrayed in their evening gown, split up the side, with low neck and back, and decked out with fine jewelry. This is the kind of woman that can usually get men to do anything she demands of them, even if it leads to their destruction. That is a perfect picture of the Catholic church, and do you know what happened in the years after 1500 A.D.? In a symbolic sense, she began to give birth to some offspring. The measure of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that was still present in that system, because of certain individuals, could stay there no longer, so out came a spiritual birth. Lutheranism, and then Methodism, and so on. Each of these were as a little child, innocent at birth, born of a truth that grew to maturity and served its purpose, but then became just like its mother. Except for the basic truths of their founding fathers, these offspring have generally the same doctrines as their ill famed mother, trinity, baptism, and such like. But God is going to kill those children with death. How? In the great tribulation, or as a climax to the great tribulation. In the last 3 ½ years of that week of Daniel, that Roman Catholic church, and all her protestant daughters are going to have a great big wedding, with the Antichrist. Yes, for 3 ½ years this western world is going to be under the spell of that woman, until she has fulfilled her last role. But at the end of that, God is going to turn those horns lose, and that protestant spirit will be destroyed along with Catholicism. Right there, God deals to every one of them according to their works.

OVERCOMERS PROMISE

Let us look back to Revelation 2:24 now, for God did have a message to the overcomers that were in the church at Thyatira, and that message applies to overcomers of the age also. (24) “But unto you I say, and unto the rest of Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. (In other words, God will require nothing more from them, that what they have already been faithful with. (25) But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. (26) And he that overcometh, (even in the Dark Ages) and keepeth my works (true works of faith) unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: (27) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; (with Jesus, in the Millennium) as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” Brothers and Sisters: That allows us to see, that even in the Dark Ages, anyone that could hear the voice of Jesus, and follow the convictions of his heart, somehow living above the moral filth and degradations of the multitudes around him, and walking in all the light he had in that hour, would have his, or her place in that church that will rule the nations with Jesus in the Millennium, according to Revelation 19. The Catholics thought the promise was to them, and that it had a present day application, so they ruled all of Europe with a rod of iron, in the name of Christianity, for 1000 years. That is why some say that Satan has already had his Millennium, and certainly we would have to agree, for that is a word that simply means one thousand.

There are many more things we could say about this Thyatira age, just like all the others, but I feel that we have said enough to help you get the parable, the church, and the age associated with each other, thereby enabling you to see other related things that will come to your attention from time to time. The Thyatira age ran all the way through the Dark Ages, to the time of Luther; therefore we are ready to look at the 5th letter, and see how it sets the type for the 5th church age. Naturally those of you who have never studied history related to these periods to time, would not be as quick to see how perfectly the different churches with their particular spiritual conditions set the type of spiritual conditions in their corresponding age. But some of you have, and I know you will have to say, Amen, when I say that we have a beautiful preview laid out right here before us, of the very age we are living in, the age of Laodicea, which we will deal with last in this message. For if the others lined up perfectly, so will this one.

SARDIS

The opening remarks in this letter are very different from all the former ones. (Revelation 3:1) “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” This is the age of the beginning of the Reformation, so let us see why the Lord would have John write such words to the church that typed this particular age. Sardis was an inland city, about 50 miles from Smyrna, located on one of the caravan trade routes. Naturally the lifestyle of the whole city was affected by whatever commerce and trade she had, and the lifestyle of that city as a whole, had a certain affect on this Christian church that was located among them. Therefore let us begin reading the letter John wrote to them at the Lord’s direction, and see if we can establish the reason why He opened the letter with these remarks. We are in chapter 3, verse 1. “And unto the angel (man in charge) of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, (He saith that to all of them) that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead.” As we have stressed all the way through, the primary message was to the bishop or pastor of the local church, but in each letter, there was also a far reaching message to the age each individual church typed. And that would be directed to a man also. The man whom God would lay His hand upon to be the star messenger to his age of time. In this case it was Martin Luther, the first of many men that stood out in the Reformation. Coming out of the Dark Ages, God gave Luther the revelation, that the just (or justified) shall live by faith, instead of by the creeds and dogmas of the Catholic church. But let us notice at this time, how Jesus introduced Himself in this letter. “These things saith He that hath the SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD, AND THE SEVEN STARS.” Does that mean that God is seven different spirits? No. That simply pertains to the seven major attributes, or attributable names of the ONE GOD who is Spirit. Through the Old Testament, you find God called by these various names. Names that express what God was to certain individuals, or in certain events. (We published an article in which we included these seven attributable names, and why they meant.) Therefore when Jesus spoke of Himself like this, it was another way of saying, The fulness of the Father is in me, and what I say is not really me saying it, but the Father that dwelleth in me. Whatever Jehovah was in the Old Testament, is all invested in His Son Jesus, the Christ. When John first saw Jesus, back in chapter 1, He was standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, holding seven stars in His hand, and he was told that the seven candlesticks were the seven churches, and the seven stars were the angels of those churches. Not spirit beings, but men. Then in chapter 4, when John was caught up by the Spirit into heaven, he saw seven lamps of fire (candlesticks) burning before the throne of God, and it says there, that these are the seven Spirits of God. Now saints we have to be able to see the symbolism in these things, for is we try to make a literal application every time, we will get so far off course we cannot get back. When John was caught up in heaven, and saw this, Jesus was already seated on the right hand of all power and authority. Those seven lamp stands before the throne would have to pertain to something of the great eternal Spirit that had been invested in Jesus, the Christ. Therefore in chapter 1, where John saw Him standing in the midst of the churches, (candlesticks) He was dressed in the attire of a high priest. That identified Him as our intercessor. But He is also a judge, or the Judge of all judges, and that would be portrayed, or spoke of, with Him in a seated position, so just remember this, and above all, do not allow yourself to think of God as seven different spirits, and do not think of these seven spirits as angelic beings. Furthermore, in the book of Zechariah where the remnant came out of Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple, and when they found the cornerstone, they saw that it had seven eyes engraved in it. There is your seven spirits of Jehovah, symbolized right there in that cornerstone, and that cornerstone in its rightful position prefigured Jesus Christ, whom Paul says is the chief cornerstone, that was rejected by those pious builders called Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and so forth. Then in Revelation, He is the first and the last; He is the beginning of a new creation, which is called a new creation because of redemption, and not by an outright act of creation. When Jesus is referred to as the beginning and the ending, then right there is your cornerstone. Watch your contractors when they build these huge buildings. There is always one particular corner where all measurements start, and all measurements end. So as we see Jesus Christ, in relationship to these seven churches, let us not allow ourselves to think of it as an attribute of Christ in each church, but rather a full display of power and authority by the one in whom all these attributes are invested. In their beginning, those churches were presented a full revelation of truth, whereby they might have a proper foundation to build upon, but Satan got into most of them, and robbed them of their pure revelation, and the very one that imparted that pure revelation in the beginning, and that stood as their high priest, to intercede for them, will at the end, sit and judge all ungodliness, and cast the devil and all of his deceived ones into the lake of fire, so keep in mind the fact that we are talking about Jesus Christ. He is the one that said, I know thy works, to all of these churches.

DEAD WORKS BY DEAD PEOPLE

Now before we look at church number 5, let us look at the wording of Jesus’ opening words to the first four. To Ephesus, He said, I know thy works, AND (CONJUNCTION) thy labors, and thy patience, and so forth. To Smyrna, He said, I know thy works AND (CONJUNCTION) tribulation, and poverty, and so on. To Pergamos, He said, I know thy works, AND (CONJUNCTION) where thou dwellest, and etc. To Thyatira likewise. But when he came to Sardis it was different. (I believe this is important, and well worth taking note of.) I believe God is the author of perfection. He knows what He is saying, and how He is saying it. He is not subject to misusing words, like I am, so let us take note of the fact that there is no conjunction after the word works in this letter to Sardis. After only 40 years, this church has come to such a borderline of death condition, that He makes a difference in the wording of His message to them. (We are speaking of spiritual death, of course.) He still started out with, “I know thy works,” but it is obviously a different kind of works than those referred to in the other letters. “I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead.” He was not speaking of His name. No, absolutely not. They were just like those denominational churches of our day. They claim to have life; they call themselves the bride of Christ, but they are full of dead works. The Spirit of God is no longer in their system of religion, yet you will hear them say, Come to our church this Sunday, where you could can be blessed, or, Come, and enjoy our choir, we have the finest choir in the land today, and many, many other words do they use to entice unstable souls. But all they have is dead works, the life of God is not among them. Some who go to these places are just looking for good air conditioning in the summer, and good warm heat in the winter. They could not care less whether there is any real true spiritual food there or not. If the preacher uses proper words, they will praise him, and if he does not, they will go home fussing, I think it is about time we got us a preacher who has a seminary degree in theology, and knows how to pronounce Bible words. Brother So and So embarrasses me, the way he talks. Saints: That is just about all some people go to church for, they hear little else than mispronounced words. This is just some examples of what I believe the Lord saw in the Sardis church. He was not pleased with their works at all. He is not even referring to the original kind of works they started out with. That is just His way of saying, you claim to be alive spiritually, but you are dead. Now notice Revelation 3 verse 2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: (He did not even bother to name them.) For I have not found thy works perfect before God.” In the other churches, they must have still had some true works of faith, but not this one. They were completely given over to man made programs, trying to convert the rest of the city to their fellowship. Their flame had gone out. All they had left was just a little flick of a coal burning down in one corner of the wick, so to speak, just stinking everything, and doing a lot of smoking, but giving no light whatsoever. Thinking of an old kerosene lamp in that condition, if you blow real hard, and fan it a little, there is a possibility of getting it to burn again. That is symbolic of what Jesus was referring to here when He said, “Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.” It is sad that a church which started out right, could get into such a shape in only 40 years, but Jesus sees it as dying, with only a very slight hope of any life being restored.

HOLD FAST – REPENT

After telling them to strengthen what remained, Jesus reminded that church that they had been taught right in the beginning. Notice verse 3, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” Jesus knew they had been founded upon the teaching of the apostle Paul, as he stood for 3 years in Ephesus preaching the whole council of God. All of those 7 churches were started from the one revival there in Ephesus. The scriptures declare that all Asia heard the word of God during that time. Therefore this church was not following a program of dead works because they did not know any different, for they did. They just found that by leaving the name of Jesus out of their activities, their programs were more appealing to the people they were trying to win over to their church fellowship. This is why Jesus said, “You have a name,” but he knew it was not His name. So the admonition in verse 3 is to the few in Sardis which have not defiled their garments with what the church as a whole is doing. “Hold fast,” was to them, and “Repent,” was to the others. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” The Lord was making it very plain to them, that judgment was ahead, for He was not going to allow this condition to continue on forever. On the other hand though, He did make a promise to those who had been true to Him. Verse 4, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; (This was the minority, and they were not the ones that run the church programs.) And they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” These will have their place in the Millennium, right along with all the other overcomers of all ages. Hallelujah! It pays to serve God with all our heart, for he Keeps an accurate record. Another thing that we see, is that God always gives people a chance to repent, and get back on the right road, after they have gone astray. Maybe you cannot change the things you see wrong with the lives of other people, but certainly God expects you to hold fast to what you have, regardless of what others may do.

WHAT MARTIN LUTHER DID

At this point, I believe we should take time to see how the conditions in the Sardis church, typed the spiritual condition of the 5th age. It was the age of Lutheranism, starting in the early years of the 1500’s A.D. The world had existed in the darkness of Roman Catholicism for so long, that the name of Jesus Christ was completely out of the picture. The true formula of water baptism was no longer observed. The Godhead revelation as originally taught by the apostles of Christ was completely out of the picture, and so was the true experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. All the major doctrines of the Christian faith had been kicked out of what was called “the church” in that hour. Roman Catholicism had brought about death to the revelation of the scriptures. As far as the church of that hour was concerned, death hung over her. But God is never without a means to carry out His next phase in His plan of redemption, so His anointing fell upon Luther, a little spark of light that needed some fanning. He did not restore much light, but he certainly was used of God to get the spiritual condition of hungry souls pointed in the right direction. Most of what Luther did was write up a list of 95 things he saw wrong with the Catholic church. He hardly even touched the word of God. He saw in the scriptures, that the just shall live by faith, and that those who would seek to be justified by the works of the law are under a curse, because they cannot keep the whole law. Brother, what joy that brought to the hearts of those who were affected by this rediscovered truth from the word of God. When people have been ruled, and held under subjection by fear tactics, to a manmade system, release from all of that brings a time of great joy to their hearts. But enthusiasm along does not last very long before it begins to wear off, and a process of death sets in. What Luther started was dying, and God had to raise up men like Knox, and Calvin to keep fanning, and rekindling the fire. Predestination and eternal security of the believer added enough oil to the wick to keep the little fire burning, but none of that ever got very far away from the framework of Roman Catholicism. That is why then, that the whole thing could not live on, and really be a shining light, all the way to the end. Because sooner or later it would have to burn out, for the simple reason that the name of Jesus Christ was not in it. By His own words Jesus said, I m the way, the truth, and the life, so nothing outside of Him, could ever produce eternal life. God knows how to turn His own affairs though, and it was His purpose to restore a true revelation to the church little by little, just like she lost it. But you know, the sad part is when a church is dead and does not know it. That was the condition of the Sardis church. They thought they still had a great work of God going on, and did not even know that the Spirit of God had already left them. By the same token, the people of Luther’s move could say, We are the church, we have life in us, we are free to walk with God. But were they? They still had their trinity, 3 persons in the Godhead. They still had their same formula of water baptism, sprinkling (that substitute method) in the titles of God, instead of immersion in the name of Jesus Christ. They had catechism just like Roman Catholics, the apostles creed, and before long their clergy was even dressing just like the Catholic priests. So I ask you, Were they free? Did they have life? Was that all the church of the Lord Jesus Christ should have? We all know better today, but how were they to know?

WILL GOD BLOT OUT NAMES?

You will notice that the 5th church age was just a little more than two hundred years, and it took various men to keep the fire going, that Luther started, and when John Wesley came on the scene, he did not start a new fire, he just added a new supply of oil to the fire that was already burning. But do you know what? If God had never moved anyone to go beyond Wesley’s movement, there would be no life left from those movements today. Just look out here at the Methodist church, and tell me what you see? It moved on with God, when the movement as a whole would not go any further. Because Lutheranism would not move on with God, and make a complete break from political ties, and Antichrist doctrines, it was God’s purpose that it should die. It seemed like everyone of those movements would just push out so far, and then stop, and death would set in. Bro. Jackson: Are you saying that no one made it to heaven out of those churches? No! That is not what I am saying at all. We are dealing with the overall picture of the various movements, and what their end was; or will be, but we must remember that the grace and mercy of God is always extended to every individual that will walk in all the light God shines upon his, or her pathway, just as Sardis, where there were a few that had not defiled their garments, so has there been a few from every age that stood out above all the rest, therefore they receive their promised reward for overcoming. The thing that stands out to me in this Sardis letter, besides the points we have already mentioned, is that the Lord did not say to them, You have Nicolaitans among you, nor, you have Baal worshipers among you, nor any such thing as He said to the other churches. It makes it look like tares was about all there was in that church, except those few old-timers that had somehow held on to their former revelation, and managed to live true to the Lord in spite of all the other things that were going on round about them. The Lord said, (4) “These shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (5) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels.” Now of course some will say, Would God really blot out a name from the book of life? Then you have others, when you are dealing with election, foreknowledge and predestination, who will say, Predestination cannot be a true Bible doctrine, or God would not speak of blotting out names from the book of life. This has always been a controversial subject, because there are multitudes of professing Christians, who have never learned to respect all of the word of God. They just read, and accept what they life, and as far as they are concerned, that is all there is in the Bible. Then they will look at their own kind, when they fall by the wayside, and say that God will blot their names out of the book of life. Brothers and Sisters: Listen to me. The Lambs book of life is not for man to write in, and blot out names, as he would, for the Bible clearly tells us that those who were chosen, by foreknowledge, were written in the book of life before there ever was anything else. Revelation 13:8 says, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (the beast) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Then in Revelation 17:8, we read these words concerning the beast. “They that dwell on earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Now, Saints: Here is my answer. The Lamb’s book of life carries the names of all that have been elected in Jesus Christ from before the foundation of the world, and I can assure you that it has no blank spaces in it where names have been blotted out. You just have to realize that this warning was sounded in a church that was made up mostly of tares, and those tares looked forward to the same promises that the true seed looked forward to, and no man knows whose names is in the book of life and whose is not. Only God knows that, and His universal plea is, Whosoever will, let him come. He gave Cain that same invitation, but you must realize, He knew before the foundation of the world, who would come, and therefore could record their names in the book of life. But for the benefit of the tare element in that church, that believe a person can get saved any time they choose, and that their names are written in, when they make that decision, and that their names are blotted out when they fail to follow all the way with what they stared, God just speaks to them on that wise. But the true elect knows that his name was written before the foundation of the world, and that it will never be blotted out. In other words, Since the tares are in, He has to speak to them on the level of their understanding. If the church had stayed pure, like it was in the book of Acts, there never would have been such language as that used, for He would have been dealing with nothing but pure predestinated seed of God. But when the tares got into the churches, God’s admonition had to cover the whole picture, for He would not give anyone a hint as to who was predestined, and who was not. We only establish our predestination by doing what the scriptures tell us to do. Peter did say (1st Peter 1:10), “Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure”, but he was not saying that we should work, in an effort to get predestinated. What he was really establishing was the fact that if we are predestinated, we will have these Christian qualities active in our lives, that he mentions just prior to that statement. It is our hunger, and our search for truth, that really allows us to know that the Spirit of God is moving in our lives. A tare will eat anything, (spiritually speaking) and never now the difference, but a predestined seed of God will never be completely satisfied until they find a fountain of revealed truth springing forth from that ONE great eternal fountain. When you see people playing around with strange doctrines and things of the flesh that are contrary to the scriptures, and just flirting around with the world in general, that is a very bad sign. The scriptures put it like this, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” The predestined soul is not very happy unless he or she can see themselves being molded to be more like Jesus. One thing I am sure you have all noticed in the scriptures, even in the gospels; where Jesus would speak saying, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.” Did you ever imagine that any of those people might not have had physical ears sticking out on the side of their head? Did you ever even wonder what was meant by such a statement? What it really meant was, only predestined souls will have the kind of hearing that will carry these words to the depths of his soul. Any of them could have heard the audible words, but only the predestined ones could hear what the Spirit was saying. That is why all seven of these letters to the churches of Asia ended like that, only those predestined souls that were still in those churches would be able to hear and follow the Spirit of God. All the rest were following something else. They were being led by a spirit, but it was not the Spirit of God. This is why Jesus said what He did in the 10th chapter of John’s gospel. Let us read it. We will begin in verse 25. “Jesus answered them, I told you; and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. (26) But ye believe not, BECAUSE YE ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP, as I said unto you. (27) MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, and I know them, AND THEY FOLLOW ME.” There is predestination, and here is eternal security. Verse 28, “And I give them ETERNAL LIFE; and they shall never perish, NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN (or devil) PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND.” If you have an ear to hear, you will not even argue about this, for you will know that it is the truth. Predestined seed do have an ear to hear. That is why they could sit in a Catholic church for years, and then one day, above all the carnal confusion around them, they could hear the voice of the Spirit of God, calling them out of it. Everything has its purpose, but sometimes God is the only one that can see the true purpose of certain things. Luther’s hour had its purpose, and God has sealed to Himself, souls that came through Lutheranism, but that Lutheran church system is dead. It will never have the life of God in it again. They may merge, and be the 2nd largest Protestant denomination, but they are still dead, and they are on the road back to mama. They had a name, that they were a living church, a living faith, but now they are dead.

PHILADELPHIA

We find quite a different picture as we read the letter to the Philadelphia church. (The name Philadelphia, means brotherly love.) This church had held on to the name of the Lord, and kept His word with whatever strength they had left, and we must remember, all of these letters were written in 96 A.D., and they were dealing with present conditions in the respective churches. There are two extreme opinions in the church world today, concerning these seven churches of Asia, and the letters written to them. One group sees only seven local churches, that stood in need of admonishment from the Lord, in 96 A.D. They cannot associate them in any way, as setting a type for a future age. Then on the other side, is a group that does see them typing an age of time, but they try to literally apply every little detail they see in those letters, to the age they correspond to. Neither concept is completely right. We must endeavor to see the spirit that was working behind the scenes in those local churches, and then we will identify the working of that same spirit in the age that each church corresponds to. The deeds may not always be literally the same, but there will always be an identifiable parallel. There are always keys, to a proper understanding of the word of God. It is the same with the seven thunders, there in Revelation 10:3. I kept still for a long time, concerning those thunders, while others traveled the world giving out their version of what they (the thunders) pertained to. But finally, the last two words of that verse stood out so clearly to me, I felt it was time to speak. I have since, preached on them, and we have printed the messages, and I am completely convinced that THEIR VOICES, pertains to seven different men who will be anointed to speak on behalf of God, to the bride of Christ, just prior to the time of the rapture, after Jesus is off of the mercy seat. No one man could possibly fulfill that scripture, for there is no way that THEIR VOICES, could be applied to anything one man might say. THEIR, is a plural pronoun word, and VOICES, is used with it, and that is also plural, so let us just be sensible about this thing. In order for it to be as some would have it, the wording of that verse would have to be changed to read something like this, And when He had cried (the mighty angel of verse 1) another voice uttered seven thunders. But even if you read it like that, you are still in trouble, for this does not take place until Jesus is off of the mercy seat, the seventh seal is opened, and the little book (scroll of redeemed names) is in His hand fully opened. Even then, there is still verse 4 to deal with, “When the seven thunders (plural) voices (plural) I (John) was about to write.” That lets us know that John heard what those voices spoke, for he was getting ready to write it down, when he was told to seal it up, and write it not. Now Saints, if you will just stop to realize that John was projected in the Spirit, all the way into our age of time, and that he was standing at the end of the age, seeing and hearing these things, this will clear up in your mind. Here John was a type of the living bride church, that would stand at the end of the age, and heard, and understand, that which God anoints these seven men (thunders) to speak. I hope you can see now, that THEIR VOICES, could not possibly apply to one man. There is no symbolism that can be stretched that far. On the other hand, in the first part of verse 3, where you see the word VOICE (singular) used, that does have symbolic application. Symbolically, that identified the mighty angel of verse 1, for it says that “He cried with a loud voice, as when a LION roareth.” Jesus Christ, who has been in His mediatorial office for almost two thousand years, will soon complete that office work, and then chapter 10 will be fulfilled, and He will be just about ready to adorn Himself in His Kingly attire, for His rule upon earth in the Millennium, and the scriptures identify Him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. That is just another one of those keys we mentioned.

SEVERAL TIMES THROUGH THE YEARS WE HAVE STARTED ON A SERIES OF MESSAGES, TO DEAL WITH ALL SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION CHAPTERS 2 & 3, BUT FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, WE NEVER SEEMED TO BE ABLE TO COVER THEM ALL WITHOUT GETTING STOPPED. I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH ALL 7 THIS TIME, AND LET THESE TAPED MESSAGES REPLACE ALL THE OTHERS WE NOW HAVE. FOR QUITE SOMETIME NOW, THE LORD HAS BEEN DEALING WITH ME CONCERNING THESE CHURCHES AND THE MANY BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT ARE PORTRAYED BY THEM, THAT ACTUALLY AFFECT THE VERY HOUR OF TIME WE ARE NOW LIVING IN. NATURALLY WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE LIVING IN THE LATTER PART OF THE LAODICEAN CHURCH AGE THAT WAS PORTRAYED BY THE LITERAL CHURCH AT LAODICEA, DURING THE FIRST CENTURY OF CHRISTIANITY, AND CERTAINLY THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO BE SAID ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR SPIRIT THAT IS NOW RUNNING RAMPANT IN OUR DAY, BUT WE ARE GOING TO START WITH THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS, AND GO STRAIGHT THROUGH.

The church at Ephesus was as different from the church at Laodicea, as night is from day. Therefore by taking a good look at Ephesus, the model church, we can see what Christianity was, before the tares got in to pervert the gospel message, and the doctrine of Christ. Then as we examine the dominating spirit of each church, we can see how they portray a steady decline of revelation truth moving right on into, and through the Dark Ages, and out on this side as God began to move upon certain men to restore truth that had been lost during those years. Ephesus was on fire for God, but Laodicea was lukewarm. The spiritual condition of those churches, and also the other five, represent the spiritual condition of a certain age of time in the dispensation of grace. Now, here we stand at the end of the grace age, and every one of the things that Laodicea was rebuked for are present in this very hour of time. This is an age of materialism, and lukewarmness toward God. Almost everyone you meet claims to be a Christian, but one cannot help but notice that the fruit of the Spirit of God is absent from the lives of most of them. Why? Simply because they do not have the reality of the new birth in their lives. In the first century of Christianity, or we will say, in the first generation of Christianity, a person would not dare admit they were a Christian unless they had the genuine product. In other words, something inside them that was so real it would even cause them to stand for Jesus Christ in the face of martyrdom. But in our day, there seems to be a certain material advantage in being known as a Christian. It is good for business, and politics, to be seen in church, and it doesn’t matter what church, for the spirit of this age promotes going to the church of your choice. In reality, that is a pagan concept of Christianity, for there is only one church, and it is a universal body of true believers that hold an apostolic revelation in their hearts of the word of God, and they are not a denomination. Different beliefs are what separates people into denominational groups, but the true body of Christ (the church) is made up of people from every nation, that all believe the same thing concerning the basic doctrines of the word of God. It is to these, and for these, that the New Testament epistles were written, so with these points in mind, let us open our Bibles to the 2nd chapter of Revelation, where we will begin to examine the messages sent to these 7 churches of Asia.

EPHESUS

In the first chapter, we see Jesus Christ portrayed as the high priest, holding the 7 stars in His right hand, and standing in the midst of the 7 golden candlesticks. That is how the apostle John saw Him in the vision given to him, there on the isle of Patmos. Then he was told that the stars in the right hand of Jesus portrayed the angels of the seven churches, (The word angel, carries a dual, or twofold meaning) and the seven candlesticks represent the seven churches of Asia. Now there were other Gentile churches at that time, for these were not the first churches of Gentile origin. In Paul’s first and second missionary journeys, there were established, churches at Iconium, Lystra and later, at Philippi, Galatia, Thessalonica, Corinth, and so forth. Therefore what we want to understand, is that the Lord Himself chose these seven particular churches for the purpose of conveying a twofold meaning, which we will see as we study the words written to each one, and make proper application by the direction of the Spirit of God. First, let us get the geographical setting. All seven of these churches were situated in Asia, which today is the country of Turkey. Some of them were in coastal cities, which means that they were in the sea trade routes, but not all of them. Those in the seaport cities did have the greater advantage though, because of the commercial trade, and so forth, and Ephesus was one of them. Ephesus was the capital city, a seaport city, and a famous city. It was also a city of much pagan worship, and a city where there was a large Jewish colony, but the city does not even exist today, and neither do any of these others. I have never been there, but I have seen pictures of these various sites, and they are all archaeological ruins today. Two thousand years ago, they stood as flourishing metropolitan cities though, and Ephesus stood at the forefront of them all.

PAUL PREACHED AT EPHESUS

It was on Paul’s 3rd missionary journey, that this door was opened for the gospel at Ephesus. We will not try to be exact, as to the years of Paul’s ministry there, but rather, we will just say that it was somewhere around 54-56 A.D., give or take a year or two. Actually all seven of these churches were established from the gospel fire that burned at Ephesus for three years while Paul was preaching there. He did not travel around to all seven cities, and establish a church as some may believe. It was the gospel message being preached at Ephesus that did the traveling to these other cities. It traveled in the hearts of hungry souls that came to Ephesus from all the regions round about to hear Paul preach. Now some who want to be contentious, claim that there is a contradiction in the Bible concerning the length of time Paul preached at Ephesus, but as for myself, I see no contradiction. In Acts 19:8, we find that he preached 3 months in the Jewish synagogue, and in verse 10, two years in the house of Tyrannus, and in verse 22, we find that he stayed in the area yet a while after that, probably in a pastoral capacity, so I see no reason whatsoever to dispute the three years mentioned in 20:31. But one thing is sure; Ephesus is where the revival fires burned, and all those other churches were established as a result of that revival. Paul may have gone later, to some of them, but if he did, the churches were already established. In the Old Testament tabernacle, one flame of fire lit all seven candlesticks, and that flame was never to go out, so here, we are allowed to see the reality of that type, as all seven of these candlesticks (churches) are lit from one Holy Ghost flame that burned at Ephesus. The scripture tells us that all they which dwelt in Asia, heard the word of the Lord Jesus Christ preached during the time Paul stayed at Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. But what we are dealing with primarily, is what the aged apostle John was instructed to write to these seven churches some 40 years later, which is 30 years beyond the death of the star messenger to the first age, Paul. By this time, (96 A.D.) John is an old man, the only one of the original apostles of Jesus Christ that is still alive. He had been loyal to the original revelation of truth that was imparted to them at the beginning, and the reality of it was still burning in his heart when he was put out there on that little island away from the main society of people. But he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and Jesus appeared to him, giving him a commission to write what he was allowed to see. Then, to the angel of these seven churches (the angel of each church) he was to write a specific letter, or message. This is why I said the word angel carries a twofold meaning, for it applies both to the angel messenger to each church age in the dispensation of grace, and also to the individuals who pastored those 7 literal churches that set the type for the church age conditions.

THUS SAITH THE LORD TO EPHESUS

Time wise, (96 A.D.) if the Lord is going to speak to these churches while some of the old patriarchs are still alive, concerning the things that they had been harassed by, it had to be done at this time. Jesus had spoken the seven parables recorded in the 13th chapter of Matthew, to lay right over the words written to these seven churches, and to exemplify conditions that would exist in seven different periods of the grace age, but these parables do not portray the great persecutions of Satan, against the church; they only show his deceptive tactics during the time when the spirit of Antichrist and the Spirit of God are running parallel. On the other hand though, these letters to the seven churches do speak of certain persecutions, and you will find that they identify with a specific age of time, which we commonly refer to as, the church ages. We are looking at the message to Ephesus first, so notice how it begins, Revelations 2 verse (1) “Unto the angel of the church at Ephesus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven gold candlesticks.” Now this was written to the ANGEL of the church of Ephesus, and we know it could not have been written to Paul, for he had been dead for about 30 years at that time, so that means that whoever was in the place of leadership in the church at Ephesus at that time was faced with the responsibility of leading them to take heed to these words from the Lord, or perish. Which they eventually did. In 96 A.D., when they received this letter, they were living in an interval of time which proved to be the beginning of a transition from the first age to the second. The first age did not just suddenly end, and the second age begin; it occurred during an extended transition period while the spirit of Antichrist was sowing tares among them. Little by little the church of Ephesus was slipping away from its former estate, so the Lord gives them a fair warning, and it is up to the pastor (the angel) as to how they will react. As we have said already, this church stands out from the rest, because this is where the Holy Ghost fire fell that eventually ignited a gospel fire in the others. No doubt, the church at Ephesus was the strongest work that was established in that area, and no doubt had a very large congregation both of Jews and Gentiles. In the writings of the Antinicean Fathers, it is brought out how many of the saints from Jerusalem, traveled to these churches, giving their testimonies concerning the things they had seen and heard during the time when Jesus walked among them. Therefore I would be prone to believe that the church at Ephesus was the main one that they went to. Naturally that being the case, every evangelist, or apostle, or whatever they might have called themselves, headed straight for Ephesus. How do I know that? Simply because verse 2 reveals it. Notice when the Lord had to say to them, “I know thy works.” We will take this one step at a time, and try to see what each thing pertained to.

WORKS OF FAITH

The first thing mentioned is their works, and I want you to know assuredly that He was not talking about how many times they had painted the church building, nor how many new roofs they had put on it. The works mentioned, would be works of faith. If a brother, or a sister needs a coat, see that they get one. If they need food for their table, see that they get it. Anywhere Christianity has ever flourished in any spiritual depth, there was both the rich and the poor in the assembly, and the needs of the truly needy were always met. This is one of the ways that God puts our faith to the test. The true faith exemplified by the Lord Jesus Christ will always respond in the affirmative to such needs among brethren. Do not ever allow yourself to think for even a moment, that the Lord just chooses the rich to be saved, and lets the poor go to hell. That is the farthest thing from the truth. Genuine faith is not based upon our station in society, but our surroundings will definitely put our faith to the test and genuine faith will always be compassionate. Then statural growth enables us to couple wisdom with our compassion. There was a situation in the early church that has caused much debate among Gentile Christians down through time, but you must remember, those who did this were all Jews, and Jews have always followed these practices for survival. I am talking about Acts 4, where all those that owned excess property sold it, and brought the money to the apostles for distribution among those that were needy. Many Gentiles have interpreted that to mean that those who owned houses and land sold everything they had, and divided the price of it among the needy. I assure you, that such a practice as that would not work for very long, for there will always be a tomorrow; therefore there always has to be some who have more than they need, in order for there to be help for the truly needy. That was simply a situation where those saints who owned real estate in excess of what they needed for themselves, sold it, and gave the profit to be used for the needs of others who were less fortunate, and God blessed that effort. The Jews did it like that, but when the gospel came to the Gentiles, another method was set up for helping the poor, and those poor saints at Jerusalem received help from them. (I Corinthians 16:3) Therefore let us look upon this word works, as something other than physical labors. Then let us notice that after works, He (Jesus) also mentioned the word labor. “I know thy works, and thy labor.)

LABOR OF LOVE AND PATIENCE

Again I want to say, let us keep the application on the spiritual side, realizing that the labor referred to here is the weight and pressure of dealing with ridicule, persecution, and all the other problems that can develop among a large assembly of people. You who have walked with the Lord for quite a few years will readily identify with the weight upon the souls of those who have the responsibility of dealing with problems that arise in the church. In the eyes of God, this kind of labor produces the same affect upon a person, as if they had carried shingles up a ladder all day to re-roof the church house. You do that for 8 hours, and I assure you , you will be worn out. But you will be just as worn out if you battle with spiritual forces all day long. In that first age, Christians were constantly harassed by Jews, as well as just plain ungodly men. Satan was trying to destroy every fellowship of saints, and at the same time, God was building in them spiritual character that would be able to stand up under any and all kinds of pressure. Through the pressures of everyday life, God’s children are moved to take on more of the stature of Jesus Christ.

Therefore the next term referred to here (patience) just naturally follows works and labors of faith. This patience is a attribute of God, and I am sure that you will readily agree, that many people are born into this world, and go through life, never having an ounce of patience. If you want your children to learn to exercise patience in this life, do not wait until they are a year and a half or two years to start teaching it to them. Not just patience, but whatever other traits you desire to see in them. When they get to be two or three years of age, and follow you around in a store, Mommy I want this, Mommy I want that, and have a tantrum every time you say no, you have waited too long to start your training, you already have a wildcat on your hands. Furthermore if you let them get by with such behavior, the day will come when they may tear your arm off, or something worse. I only use these natural illustrations to stress a point of truth, spiritually, because in everything, there is a natural and also a spiritual to be considered. Those who conduct themselves properly in the natural will have less trouble with their spiritual behavior than one who just runs wild and carefree in the natural. But we are looking at the word patience here, spiritual patience, that God desires to instill in every son and daughter of His. This is the kind of patience that helps us endure the many attacks of the devil, until God shows us what to do about it. One thing is sure, whatever God allows the devil to do to His children, will accomplish something in their statural growth if they learn to wait upon the Lord to show them how to handle the situation, and that is especially true, in the church. What did James say? James, Chapter 1, verse (2) “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” In other words, spiritual patience is knowing how to wait upon the Lord, and that of course, will take you right to Isaiah 40 verse (31) “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” So you see, God allows certain things to come upon us, as His means of cultivating certain spiritual attributes that He desires us to possess. Therefore as He sent this letter to Ephesus, He acknowledged these attributes by saying, “I know they works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which evil.” In the various epistles, which were all written before this Revelation letter, the saints were always instructed on how to deal with evil. This was before the tares even got in the assemblies. The saints in that early age, were saints that would take discipline. Let us look into Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, and see what he said to them on this matter of God’s chastening, and its affect on true sons and daughters of His. In Hebrews chapter 12 verse (5) “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of Him; (6) For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” So there definitely does come a time in all our lives when God has to take us across His spiritual knee, and spank us. Oh, Bro. Jackson, God never has to spank me. If any of you feel like that, then maybe we should read a little farther. Verse (7) “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (Notice now) (8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof ALL (not just some, but all) are partakes, then are ye BASTARDS, (illegitimate children-tares) and NOT SONS.” In other words, if you just simply cannot take correction, chances are very great that you are not a child of God at all. You do not have the nature of the heavenly Father in you, or you would not run from Him when chastening time comes. Very plainly stated, I might run from my neighbor, but I would never run from my father, and you can make your own judgement as to why you will not stand still and take correction. I will not judge you. One thing is for sure though; it does not help the least bit, just to keep on hiding from the truth. It takes truth to set a son of God free.

APOSTOLIC MINISTRY

Coming back to Revelation 2:2 now, we read, “I know how thou hast tried them which SAY they are apostles, and are not, hast found them liars.” Saints, right there is an important word placed within this letter to the Ephesus assembly, and it is the only one that contains this word apostle. Why would that be? First of all, this is the church where Paul, the first church age messenger stood. While reading in the Antinicean Father’s writings, I read where Polycarp, who sat at the feet of John, wrote to the Philippian church, around 100 A.D., just a few short years after the Revelation letter was written, reminding them of the things that had been taught by the great apostle Paul. As you read those records, it becomes obvious, that Ephesus was a church where whoever claimed to be an apostle, eventually showed up there, because they knew that God always sent His true apostles to that church when He wanted to impart to them further truth. As I have already said, Ephesus stood out in the forefront with the gospel message. They had been taught well, so they had a true revelation of the doctrine of Christ. That is why they were able to detect, and expose those false apostles that showed up there, trying to make a name for themselves. They just simply gave them the word test. All of God’s true apostles believed and taught the same doctrine.

They taught that God is one, that baptism should be administered to believers in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that all believers should be baptized for the remission of sins of the flesh, and none of them sought to elevate themselves above the others. They were laborers together, working in a great building for God. When Paul wrote the first Epistle to the Corinthian church, he rebuked them because of divisions among them, saying, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Some of you say, I am of Paul; and others, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but it was God that gave the increase. (He went on to say) He that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God: Ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.” When Paul referred to himself as a wise master builder, and how he had laid the foundation, he knew that he was the apostle to the Gentiles, and that it was his revelation of the word of God, that these churches were founded upon. Every last one of them was established upon the revelation that he had preached to them. But as time passed God used other men to minister to them further truth for their spiritual growth, and not one of those God sent men ever preached anything contrary to what Paul preached. They were all laborers together on God’s great building, (the church) which is redeemed souls, and not wood, stone and bricks. In later years, many Gentile ministers would feel led to go to Jerusalem, and minister to the Jewish saints, just as the Jewish apostles would go to the Gentile churches, and this brought about a condition whereby those who just claimed to be apostles had opportunity to get their foot in the door, and explains why the Lord spoke of how Ephesus had tried them, and found them to be liars.

FALSE PROPHETS – FALSE APOSTLES

Very early in His 3½ year earthly ministry, Jesus warned, (Matthew 7:15) “Beware of false prophets, which shall come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.” He was speaking of a future condition that would exist as the devil began his program of sowing tares among the good crop of God. This Antichrist spirit was portrayed in the 13th chapter of Matthew, when Jesus spoke those 7 parables, all pertaining to a future condition. In the 7th chapter of Matthew, Jesus pursued the thought all the way to the end time saying, (22) “Many will come to me in that day saying, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, And in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And I will say unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Satan’s deceptive agents always appear to be very meek and humble, for that gains them the confidence of many people, but inwardly they are as ravening wolves, ready to devour the flock of God. Even as early as 90 A.D., when John wrote the little epistles, he could see that spirit working then. As he spoke of those that were Antichrist agents, he said, (1st John, verse 19) “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” I can just see some of those fellows as they would jump on the back of an old camel, and head for some of those churches such as we are reading about in our text scriptures. Coming into those churches, the first thing they would say is, “I am an apostle. I have just come from Jerusalem. I have been with Peter and the other apostles there, and I have been in the upper room, and ETC., ETC. That is exactly how some of these modern day preachers carry on after they have been to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and saw where the prophet to this age lived and preached, and after they have been to the cemetery where he is buried, and to the Spoken Word Publishers, to get an armful of books. After they do that, they feel that they are ready to circle the globe, straightening out the revelation of the bride of Christ. Most of them, find out just enough to make a fool out of themselves. Brothers and Sisters: It doesn’t matter whether you ever get to Jeffersonville, Indiana, or not, the thing that really makes the difference, is whether you get true revelation of the word of God, or not. If you never get a revelation in your spirit from the Spirit of God, you will never be anything that God will accept. Without that, all your labor is vain, and you have no eternal reward coming to you. Over the years, many of these fellows have tried to gain access to this pulpit, to promote themselves, but the Lord has always allowed us to detect them, and put them to flight, just like the church at Ephesus did, with those that troubled her. I have known of various assemblies that were constantly in an uproar, simply because they let every self ordained preacher that happened to pass their way, get into the pulpit and preach his version of the message to this age. But, Bro. Jackson, How do you know who to let in? Are you not afraid of turning away someone who has a true message from the Lord? Let me just remind you of something else that the apostle John wrote. It is found in 1st John 4:1. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Now Saints, John was not referring to a smoky mist over in the corner of the church building; he was referring specifically to preachers, or as in his day, self appointed apostles. How do you detect them? The same way the church at Ephesus did; you just simply find out if they are preaching the same revelation that the apostles of Jesus Christ preached. Now do not misunderstand me. They do not have to use the same verbal words, but one thing is sure, no true man of God will ever preach a contrary doctrine, and the others cannot preach very long without it. Besides that, they will usually give themselves away by the way they talk, even before they ever get into the pulpit to preach. Nevertheless, Ephesus tried them by this means and weeded out the false ones, and the Lord acknowledged it. Let us look at it like this, Ephesus knew that she had been established by a true apostle, and their minds were resting upon the fact. However, they had learned to respect the men that came from Jerusalem, and Satan knew it, and took advantage of it. He just got him some men who were already desiring to make a name for themselves, and made apostles out of them.

SATAN’S DECEPTIVE TACTICS

In 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15, we find Paul writing to these Corinthian saints, saying, (13) “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” The respect that the church at Ephesus had for apostles, made them a prime target for Satan to bombard with his tare sowing false apostles, and he no doubt kept them coming. Now Saints, please do not get the idea that those fellows could not preach anything at all like the apostle Paul preached, for that is wrong. As much as 90 percent of it could have been exactly right, but saints that have been taught properly will catch enough from that other 10 percent to know that there is something wrong. After each episode where one of those false apostles would get into the church and preach, they would just have to do some spiritual house cleaning to clear the atmosphere, but the point is, they took it patiently. They did not become frustrated and disillusioned, and throw up their hands. They labored under the pressure of that constant harassment, and with patience, they continued their works of faith, but 40 years of this, did have a certain effect upon them, which we will see a little later.

THE MODEL CHURCH

As we read Revelation 2:3, we find patience and labor both mentioned again. Notice, (3) “And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.” That word borne is associated in this case with carrying responsibility. We could say, with patience they had labored under the weight and pressure against them because of the name of Jesus, and they did not faint (give up) along the way. They endured all their trials, and kept that name of Jesus Christ, a fire in their souls. So in their patience, they had been loyal to that name. Brother, this was a tested church. They were attacked by every Satanic spirit the devil had to throw at them. Why so with them any more than the others? Because this was to be the model church. They had to have every opportunity to set an example in overcoming the constant attacks of the enemy of our souls. This is how our perfection is wrought. Brothers and Sisters, listen to me; We have passed through an era of economics like no other generation has ever known. We will have no acceptable excuse when we stand before the Lord, if we do not hold on to what He has committed to our spiritual understanding, and life accordingly. It doesn’t matter whether we have a car to drive, no whether we have all the modern conveniences in our home or not; it is what we do with that revelation in our soul that determines whether we come out victorious or not. I am afraid that some who gauge spiritual wealth and happiness by how easy the Lord makes it for them to live, are going to come up short in that day. When the going gets hard, we should not give up; that is what the word faint pertains to. In Luke 18:1, Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray, and not to FAINT.” In 2nd Corinthians, Paul used the word, so let us read about two verses from chapter 4, just to catch the word, verse (16) “For which cause we FAINT not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man (spirit) is renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” That one verse alone lets us see that these afflictions and trials will work for our spiritual benefit, if we will just not give up (faint) before we come out on the other side. In Galatians 6:9, Paul said, “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” No matter how many preachers may have told the church at Ephesus, It would be all right to baptize using the titles instead of the name Jesus, they knew that Paul had re-baptized the original 12 disciples among them, because they had not been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to Acts 2:38. Therefore they held true to that name, and labored to keep it alive among them. Now I believe you can see what these terms actually apply to, so let us move onto verse 4, and find out what the Lord had against the church.

FORMALISTIC ROUTINE

In everything else, the Lord commended the church at Ephesus, but then told them that He had something against them. Notice what it was, as we read verse 4. “Nevertheless I have something against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” In reality, all the other things that they were commended for were built around the very thing that He is saying they have left. How can that be? I believe we can use a natural setting here, to illustrate the reality of this spiritual condition. It did not just happen there at Ephesus; it still happens. In the natural realm, a boy meets a girl; they fall in love, and after a period of time in which they have been dating and really getting to know each other, they get married, and start housekeeping together. Now all during the time while they were dating, they just could not see enough of each other, couldn’t hardly stand to be apart until the next date. But we all know that life is much more than that carefree way you feel during your courting days. One day there is a marriage, and suddenly there is responsibility that neither of you have ever had. Your love for each other causes you to assume that new responsibility with great zeal and fervency. Everything is approached with real joy and expectancy as you look to the future together. That is also exactly how it is living for God. When we first come to know the Lord we just cannot seem to do enough for Him. Our new found love just keeps us on the mountain tops, spiritually speaking. But God does not allow us to remain on the mountain tops forever, so He begins to bring us down to reality of life, and lay some genuine responsibility upon us, which in the beginning we accept with true joy of heart, just like the newlywed couple in the natural. But over a process of time, life in the natural can become very routine. We still do the same things, but not with the same joy and fervency. You still kiss your wife goodbye when you leave for work, and she still meets you at the door with a kiss when you come home, but it has become just a routine to you. What causes such a change? A few misunderstandings, a few disappointments, added responsibilities, financial reverses, and all sorts of things. Saints, we all understand that this is part of everyday life we are talking about, but we should also understand, that no matter what happens, our love for our mate should always be considered above everything else, in the natural. It doesn’t matter if you are 80 years old, you can still have that same love in your heart that you had when you were 20, and God is not pleased with any marriage that loses it. Neither is He pleased with any church that just goes through their formalistic routines week after week, and at the same time allows the fervency of their love for God to gradually fade into the background. When this is allowed to go on and on in a natural marriage, sooner or later, Satan sets a trap that eventually destroys the marriage. Then when you bring that same condition over into the spiritual realm, and allow it to go on and on without getting revived, somewhere down the road, Satan will have a trap set for you. So as we look to this condition at Ephesus, let me say this, If there was a need brought to their attention, they took care of it. If anyone was baptized, they made sure it was done according to Acts 2:38, in the name of Jesus Christ. If someone claimed to be something other than what they were, these saints would discern it. Whenever persecution and pressure was heaped upon them, they endured it with patience, but they had allowed themselves to fall into a formalistic routine to the extent that they were no longer motivated by the fire of that love for God which they started out with. They went to the assembly more out of habit and routine, than to meet and worship with their brothers and sisters in the Lord. Therefore in Revelation 2:5, the Lord says, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, (be genuinely sorry) and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Now He did not say He would remove the star; He said He would remove the candlestick. Of course we know that the candlestick represented the power and presence of the Lord in their midst. Therefore they were being warned, and if they would not repent, the Lord would just move out from among them, and they could no longer do anything by the anointing of His spirit. Let me hasten to say this though, He was not telling them to be baptized again, as some folks interpret that term first works. He was merely telling them to repent of their motives, and to return to their former ways, when they were motivated by a genuine love that burned within their hearts. In other words, they needed a revival.

NICOLAITAN SPIRIT

After Jesus rebuked the church for losing its first love, He turns right around, and commends them again, (Revelation 2:6) saying, “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” He did not say that they had any tares, nor such like, in their assembly, but this does prove that they had been harassed by that Antichrist spirit for He says, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. No doubt these spirits had begun to have an effect on certain ones’ attitudes, and maybe even caused some others to even consider using some natural means to try and get rid of the confusion that was looming upon the horizon. Saints, any time a church resorts to carnal remedies, trying to deal with spirits that trouble them, they have shut God out of the picture, completely. God wants to be in the picture so he can teach us some wisdom and patience, as these things arise. Beyond that, there are some things God will not let you have to tolerate, for He will warn you ahead of time, so that you can head it off as it comes down the road. That is how some men’s sins go openly before them. Whether God allows though, you can be sure it will serve a purpose in the redemption and restoration process of God upon this old planet. When this thing winds up, God is going to have some people perfected, and ready to rule with Jesus Christ in the Millennium. But those that will be perfected, will not be those that jump the gun and take things into their own hands every time a little something goes wrong. It is the responsibility of the ministry to make decisions as to what the church will, or will not allow. But many times, the ministry will have to wait upon the Lord longer than many think they should, in order to know what to do. This then, can bring about a carnal reaction from those who do not have patience to wait upon God’s answers. Sooner or later, that brings about a strain between the laity and the ministry. It did not happen in the church at Ephesus, for they were very determined that the Holy Ghost was going to lead them. But we certainly do see it in the Pergamos church. It is a situation where the clergy is exalted above the laity to the extent that they rule them with fear tactics. No record has ever been found of any group or sect of people that were known as Nicolaitans; therefore we must conclude that the spiritual mention of them pertains to a spirit of the devil that caused the ministry to conquer the laity. You can still see that old spirit at work out here in various religious groups. Some people do not dare go visit their relatives once in awhile, without getting permission from their pastor. Saints, you know a situation like that is not ordained of God. God knows the hearts of all those who miss church services for whatever reason they miss, and He is the final one that they must answer to. Your preacher has no God given right to forbid anyone to miss church services, nor to rule over their lives with an iron fist. Furthermore God’s true children do not need such supervision; they enjoy doing what they know to be right.

THE TREE OF LIFE

As we look back to the church at Ephesus for just a moment, and consider what the Lord said to her, we can well see why trials, tests and persecutions were allowed by the Lord in every church age. That is what produces a true soldier of the cross. One that has backbone, a strong faith, enduring love for God, and for others, and one that is trustworthy in the sight of the Lord. So let us notice this last verse to the church at Ephesus. Revelation 2:7 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the CHURCHES; (churches-plural) To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” In that symbolic language, to eat of the tree of life is to partake of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the life of the tree of life. The Holy Ghost is the seal of God whereby we are sealed unto the day of our redemption from this natural life, (Ephesians 4:30) and the Holy Ghost is the very substance of the new birth. Paul said, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:9) Therefore let us conclude this part of the message by saying, The church at Ephesus was made up of true believers. They all had the Spirit of Christ, and they gave no place for the devil’s ambassadors to work among them. But we must realize that by the time John was instructed to write these words to them, the first church age that they represented was on the threshold of passing on to the second age which was represented by the conditions prevailing in the church at Smyrna. Ephesus was pure, free from tares. The first church age was pure, free from tares, but the infiltration of tares among the body of believers after those original apostles passed off the scene, is actually what inaugurated the second age. He that overcometh has a promise of something to look forward to. That also lets us know, that in every age, no matter what the devil bombarded them with, there was always sufficient grace from the Lord for those true believers to overcome, and that is still true in our day. Just be sure you do not judge the whole of Christianity by what you may see someone doing who professes to be a Christian. You look into the book of Acts, and you will see what true Christianity is, for God’s standards have never changed. What Christians were in the beginning, is what Christians will be at the end time. But those who live to see the coming of the Lord will have a deeper revelation of God’s complete redemption process than those of the first age had. Not a different doctrine, just a deeper revelation.

SMYRNA

The Lord has no rebuke for the church at Smyrna. This church it seems, was a victim of much persecution, and poverty stricken as far as material wealth is concerned. But the Lord told them they were rich in those things that have eternal values. So let us continue reading, here in verse 8, and see what was said unto the angel (Pastor or leader) of this church. “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive; (9) I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou are rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” As we said earlier, each of these 7 churches existed in the days when the apostle John was still alive. Also, the Lord specifically naming the churches in a certain order, and this was for a very specific reason, for as it turns out, the local conditions existing in each of the 7 churches, represented the general condition of an age of time that would fall within the scope of the grace age dispensation. Each one characterized a spirit that would correspond to the prevailing spirit of a certain period of time in following generations. Whatever that spirit of Satan did, or tried to do in those 7 churches, is exactly what he would be doing in the age of time that corresponds in numerical order to those churches. Smyrna was number two in the order given by the Lord; therefore her spiritual condition as well as the material wealth or poverty of the Christians in general, represented the general condition of that second church age, an age of tribulation, persecution, martyrdom, and much poverty. Let us understand also, that the general condition here in this church, reflected the overall picture of the whole city where it was located. In that day and hour, world travel was not like it is today. People did not run all over the world spreading their influence, and their material wealth, like they do today. Therefore the general conditions seen here, more or less represent the environment, or we will say the culture and general condition of the whole city of Smyrna, and Satan’s influence is definitely seen here. Smyrna was definitely not a city where one would go with the thought of trying to amass a great fortune in a short time. Economic prosperity was limited to a great degree because this was not a city of great commercial trade, like some of the others were. This church, in this city, was the Lord’s choice, to represent a certain spirit of Satan that would have its effect upon that second church age, after the tares began to get into the church universally and exercise their influence.

STAR MESSENGERS’S RESPONSIBILITY

Naturally the first application of the letter to the church at Smyrna was to the church itself right then, and there, and it was the pastor’s responsibility to see that proper action was taken after receiving it. But beyond that local setting was an age of time in universal Christendom that these same conditions would exist; and therefore it becomes the responsibility of the messenger to that age to also take the necessary steps in applying these words from the Lord. Which in this case was Irenaeus. He was the generally accepted star messenger to the 2nd age. He held the true revelation of God’s word up before them, to combat that spirit of Satan that was trying to destroy the church. Before going on though, let me just remind you once again that the conditions of these 7 churches, were conditions that existed in each particular church at the time of John’s instructions from the Lord to write to them, which was 96 A.D. In 96 A.D. conditions were existing in these 7 churches, each church portraying a different condition spiritually and materially from the others, that somewhere during the following two thousand years would correspond to the general condition of an age of time, during which time, the angel messenger to that age of time commonly referred to as the church ages, would be stirred in his heart to stand against that prevailing spirit of Satan with a message of truth from the word of God. Therefore I am going to read to you, a few excerpts from church history, that I have with me, so that you may hear some of what was written, especially concerning this 2nd age. But first, let us notice what the Lord had to say to this church. “I know thy works”. He said that to the church at Ephesus also, did He not? That lets us see that there definitely are certain works that the Lord looks upon, either good or bad, in every congregation of believers. That always reminds us of what the apostle James said about works. “Faith without works is dead.” Our works are not what saves us, but they do go hand in hand with the faith we exercised for that salvation, and it is our works of faith that actually portray character and concern, and the general condition of our spiritual lives. But just as faith without works is dead, so also is works dead if they are not accompanied by a corresponding faith. Faith and works are as inseparable as the Spirit of God and the word of God. Without the Spirit to quicken it to our own spirit, the written word of God is just a dead letter, and those who claim to have the Spirit, and do not have the word of God to stabilize them, have nothing but wild fire, which always leads to trouble.

POVERTY VERSUS RICHES

Alright, besides their works, the Lord also spoke of their tribulation and poverty there at Smyrna. If they had tribulation, that means they had persecution and trials to deal with, and on top of that, a lack of material wealth, for that is where the term poverty is applied. Spiritually they were rich; for the Lord Himself said so. That is a completely opposite picture from Laodicea, the seventh church, and the seventh church age. It just goes to show what the effects of Satan’s constant bombardment of truth are. Laodicea is the age of climax. Men have struggled for centuries, to climb the ladder of monetary success, and prestige, and we are living in the age where intellectual achievement has reached a peak, almost to the point of where God will actually allow it to go, before He calls an end to it all. We have put men on the moon, sent rockets into space to photograph Mars, Venus, and such like, and medical science itself has reached a great peak in trying to defeat a law of God set in affect when the first man and woman failed Him. They want to gain the supremacy over death. But they will never achieve their goal along those lines, for death is an appointment that every man has, and must keep. Only those who are lifted from this old earth by the Lord Himself will escape it, and those who are working so hard with their human efforts will not be among them. Nevertheless, intellectual achievement has ushered in an economic environment whereby the western world is living at its highest standard ever. That is why the Lord would say to the church at Laodicea, which is the church that corresponded to our age,(Revelation 3:17&18) (17)”Because thou sayeth, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,” and so forth. They were looking to their own self sufficiency more than to God who is the true provider of all that we have need of. It is Satan’s goal, to get man with his human achievements to leave God out of the picture, and those who do so, no matter how rich they may be in this world’s goods, in the eyes of God they are poverty stricken and naked, spiritually speaking. On the other hand, here were some people at Smyrna, probably just barely getting by, struggling to make ends meet, and on top of that, they were persecuted and abused, but because they had a strong faith, and a love for God that made them determined to stand, no matter what, the Lord said to them, “You are rich.” They were laying up treasures in heaven, just like Jesus taught in the gospels, treasures that could not be corrupted, and that thieves could not break in and steal. Praise God! That is the kind of riches I desire. If we will just be loyal to God, true to His word, and love and respect each other, He will see to it, that we are cared for in this life. He never promised us great material riches, but He used the grass, the lilies, the sparrows, and such like, to show how God cares for His own, and how He will care for them in life.

THE TARES ARE SOWN

Now as I have stated already, I know the seven parables of the 13th chapter of Matthew, the letters to these seven churches, and the seven church ages, all go together. But when I began to look at the words of the Lord to the church at Smyrna, knowing that the 2nd parable of Matthew 13, speaks of how the tares were sown among the good seed, I looked at the letter for quite some time, and then I saw that they had tares among them, but what He did say was, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” He did place that nugget there, and it says a lot, if you know what else has already been said to explain it. Now let us realize, this was a local church, a specific congregation of people. But it was to portray a condition that would exist in a certain age, and that age would be the one that Jesus portrayed by the parable in Matthew 13:24-30, the age in which tares got into the assembly of believers. (It will all clear up to you when I read some of these excerpts from church history). That church at Smyrna stands out though, because of their faith, and loyalty to God. Polycarp, who was a student of the apostle John, was the bishop of the church at Smyrna. He was a man that truly loved God, and that led the church to lay up treasures in heaven. But Satan was at work, and we learn from verse 9, that his presence was felt among them. As we look at the 2nd church age, which the church at Smyrna portrays, we find that Irenaeus was the star messenger to that age, and we read here in the history of the church, how he challenged the heretics in that 2nd age. Therefore even though we do not see anything specifically mentioned in the letter to Smyrna about that tare spirit, (heretics) we must realize that it had to be present, and that it had to be contained in that one little statement the Lord made about the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. You see, if you did not know anything else, you could never get that, out of such a mere mention of something. But I do praise the Lord for the way He leads and allows us to see certain things that are hid from the wise and the prudent, (the theological giants of religion). We saw from the letter to Ephesus, that Satan was trying to destroy Ephesus by getting the ministry and the laity at odds with each other, in other words, by getting attention focused upon rank and racial identity, bring friction into the church that would eat like a cancer to the deterioration of the body. But Ephesus was too wise to be trapped by such tactics; they sent those trouble makers on their way. We do know, from reading Acts 19, that the first believers at Ephesus were 12 Jewish men that were taken right out of the synagogue. They were Jewish men that had been baptized unto repentance, according to John’s preaching, but Paul took them, and expounded the gospel to them, baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, and therefore, they became the first, or the beginning of the church of Ephesus. What I want to impress upon you now, is this, There were Jews in all those cities where these 7 churches were located, and I believe Jews were among the first to make up the ranks of converted Christians that followed the teaching of the apostles of Christ. This gave the Jewish people in those congregations a certain image of recognition by those Gentiles who were converted later, and also, at the same time opened a little crack in the door for Satan to try to get his foot in. Naturally it was made known that it was the Jews who had preserved through time the sacred writings, and the knowledge and revelation of the one true God. This, to me, says that the Gentiles of that hour (in the first age) had a certain reverence for a Jew that had been converted to Christianity. Did not Paul remind them of how blindness in part had been passed upon the Jews, in order that the Gentiles might be brought in, and made partakers of the gospel? I believe that is why these churches that were at the time of 96 A.D., made up mostly of Gentile believers, always tried to give place for the testimony of Jewish individuals that passed their way, claiming to be Christians. No doubt, those who truly were Jews converted to Christianity, were a great blessing and encouragement to the other believers, but that also opened up a way for Satan to slip in a make believer now and then. They would come by, claiming to be Jews, and many of them even claiming to be apostles, but those saints of Ephesus that had been taught so well by the apostle Paul, would not be taken in by them. They would discover their deception, and put them to flight. Therefore as we realize that what the devil tried to do in the church at Ephesus, is what he was trying to do throughout all of Christianity during that first church age, and then we look to the church at Smyrna which represents conditions present in the second age, it lets us see that he just kept on using those same tactics until he finally succeeded in getting tares (make believers) sown among the believers. By using that identity as a Jewish believer, or even as an apostle from Jerusalem, they could gain recognition in those assemblies, and that would give them an opportunity to slip in some of their own ideas. The Lord said those fellows were the synagogue of Satan. In other words, these make believers were Satan’s house of worship. I was reading some of what Iranaeus wrote about those fellows, and I noticed one statement in particular. He said, A naked lie is too easy to recognize as such. He was speaking of those fellows that traveled around from place to place spreading their false doctrines. Now I have heard many things from such characters as this, that I though was just about as ridiculous as anything that could ever be taught by someone claiming to be called of God to minister His word, but some of the things that were taught during the 2nd age topped them all. As they hacked away at the Godhead, they had about 6 or 7 steps involved in God condescending to the human role, in which He was called Jesus the Christ. No wonder the devil was able to do what he did in the third century. As long as that first generation of saints were alive, they could spot those phonies, but as they passed off the scene, and their children, and their children’s children were left to attend to the affairs of the church, Satan’s ministers were able to pull the wool over their eyes, so to speak, for they did not have the pure revelation that those 1st century disciples had. Satan just used the same persistence in sowing his tares, that Jesus taught His disciples to use in prayer. He just kept on until he got what he wanted, tares running the affairs of the church. Not just one local body, but universally, and your denominational systems are still that way today.

AN AGE OF MARTYRDOM FOLLOWED

Now let us read verse 10, (Revelation 2) of the letter to Smyrna. Remember as we read this, that this was written to just one local church, there in Asia. He is warning them of something that was going to happen to them, and that same condition would also exist in the universal body of believers in the 2nd century, but as far as they knew, it was just them, there at Smyrna. Let us notice what the Lord said to them. “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” This truly did happen. Right there in that church in Smyrna, men were arrested, and taken to the arenas where they were usually fed to the lions to satisfy the blood thirsty cravings of those pagans who lived just to watch that sort of thing. Polycarp was the 12th martyr from that church there at Smyrna. He was the bishop of that assembly as time passed from the 1st age to the 2nd. Tares were in the churches by then, and universal Christendom was beginning to feel the effects of Satan’s plan to overthrow the true gospel, and substitute it with his own perverted version. But first, he would have to get rid of the rest of those true saints who still held a true revelation of the apostolic gospel. That is what martyrdom was all about. True saints from that hour and onward, were subjected to wicked trials, and much tribulation. So from that church right there at Smyrna, Polycarp was the 12th martyr who gladly accepted death rather than denounce the Lord Jesus Christ. In the letter to that church, Jesus had said, Do not fear those things which thou shalt suffer. Some of you will be cast into prison, be tried, and have much tribulation, but be faithful even unto death, and I will give the a crown of life. Brother, that is exactly what they did, for as I read these various accounts from church history, I see where they actually welcomed martyrdom. They counted it a privilege to die for the sake of their faith in Jesus Christ. I want to read some of this in your hearing, so that you may better understand why that 2nd age was symbolized by a red horse rider in the seven seals. Blood flowed from the veins of those saints of God in the 2nd age as they stepped into those arenas just like a beast of sacrifice, which was symbolized in Revelation 4:7. John saw in the midst of the throne in heaven 4 beasts, and the 2nd one had the appearance of a calf, and we know that this actually symbolized the spirit of those believers who would actually welcome martyrdom when it came to them. God gave them grace to sacrifice their own lives in that bloody age of martyrdom, that began when Satan got the stage set. Of course we realize that Christians were martyred even from the very beginning of the New Testament church, but not with the widespread sweep that started in the 2nd century.

THE SMYRNA CHURCH WRITES

I am going to read some of the letter written by the church at Smyrna, describing the death of Polycarp their faithful bishop. He has been arrested, and is standing before the forum where he is confronted with an order to worship Caesar, and renounce his faith in Christ. He replied, No, I will worship the Lord Jesus Christ. But listen to this. As Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven saying, “Be strong, and show thyself a man, Oh Polycarp.” No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present, heard the voice. (I wonder how the people there in that stadium felt?) Then as he was brought forward, the tumult became great, for they had heard that Polycarp was taken. As he came near, the Proconsul asked if he were Polycarp, and upon confessing that he was, the Proconsul sought to persuade him to denounce Christ saying, Have respect to thy old age, and other similar things according to their custom. Such as, Swear by the fortune of Caesar, or, Repent and say, Away with the atheists. Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance upon all the multitude of wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hands toward them, and groaning, looked up toward heaven and said, Away with the atheists. But he said it with a different motive. Then the Proconsul urging him said, Swear by Caesar and I will set you at liberty. Reproach Christ! Polycarp declared. Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me any injury. How then can I blaspheme my King, and my Savior? I will stop reading right there, and just insert a point or two. Naturally he was condemned to death, after that statement, but just a few days before he was arrested, he had a dream which he told to other brethren. In the dream, he had seen the pillow he was sleeping on, set on fire, so he had told these brethren, the next day, I know how I will go; they will burn me. They usually fed them to the lions in the area, but by the time his sentence was passed upon him, it was late in the day. The lions had already been put away, so that opened the way for his dream to be fulfilled. One of the lower officials said, Bring in the lions. But the man in charge said, The evening events are over, and the lions are already back in their cages. That necessitated his destruction by fire, so when Polycarp became aware of it, he prayed, and welcomed the fire. At the conclusion of his prayer, the men came with the fire, and Brother! Here is a beautiful testimony of a man endowed with the grace of God. Let me read it to you. As the flame breathed forth with great fury, we to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle, and have been preserved alive, that we might be able to report to other what took place there. The fire shaping itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, encompassed as by a circle the body of the martyr, and he appeared within, not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread which is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Morever we perceived such a sweet odor coming from the pike, as if frankincense or some other precious spices had been smoking there. (Saints, these are the things the Lord used to speak to that bunch of heathen in those days.) At length, when those wicked men perceived his body could not be consumed by the flames, they commanded that an executioner go forth and pierce him through with a dagger. Upon doing this, there came forth a dove, (symbol of the Holy Ghost) and a great quantity of blood, (which actually gushed out in such a way that it extinguished the flames, I read in another place) and all the people wondered, that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this most admirable Polycarp was one. Having in our times, been an apostolic prophet and teacher, and bishop of the church which is in Smyrna, every word that came forth from his mouth, either has been already, or shall yet be accomplished. This is the blessed account of Polycarp, which was the 12th that was martyred in Smyrna. Now brothers and sisters, those twelve were actually the patriarchs of the faith that had pastored the church there. They had all been martyred, and Polycarp was the twelfth one.

WHAT HISTORY REVEALS

From Polycarp’s hour, as the second age really came into full focus, this same thing began to be a universal picture. Satan still continued to pervert Christianity from within, and at the same time, from without, tried to completely destroy every individual soul that held onto a true revelation of any sort. That is exactly why the 2nd beast (the calf) corresponds to the 2nd horse rider, (red) for the blood of the saints spilled upon the ground, as they faced martyrdom for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But one thing is obvious to anyone who read these various historical records, God gave them grace to die with dignity. They would walk into those arenas with their heads held high, and with victory in their souls, being thankful that they were counted worthy to share in the sufferings of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Naturally we have to go to other sources for much of this information, for it just simply is not written in the pages of the Bible. That is why I’m so thankful that many of these historical writings have been preserved through the years of time. Otherwise there would be many questions in our minds left unexplained. Much of what we know about Christianity and its adversaries passing from that first century into the second, and also from the first church age and on into the second age was written by Irenaeus the messenger to the 2nd age. He was born near Smyrna around 130 AD., and was taught by Polycarp who was a disciple of the apostle John. It was from the writings of Irenaeus that I read that about Jesus being the 6th stage of God’s condescension to human form. He was telling about how schools of Christian learning were springing up in that 2nd century, and some of the things they taught about the Godhead. Anyhow that was the first I had ever heard, or read of God being as many as 6 or 7. It is hard enough in our day, to deal with these who believe Him to be 2 or 3, so I do not envy those saints of God who had to deal with such a wild spirit as that. Of course we realize that it all comes from that same spirit of perversion, but you do wonder just how anything could get so far off course, so soon after the original apostles passed from the scene. Naturally as I read some of those things, my mind went to the parable of Jesus, in Matthew 13:24-30, where he said, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” John was dead, Paul was dead, Peter was dead, James was dead. Those old guards of the true faith were asleep in Jesus, and the enemy of God sowed his tare seed (make-believers) among the wheat, (true believers) and went his merry way. Irenaeus wrote many epistles refuting those Antichrist teachings that were springing up throughout universal Christendom and I was reading also, how he sent certain men from Smyrna all the way into France evangelizing, but Satan was on the rampage. He had already enlarged his field of tares, and true Christians were being butchered like hogs in a slaughterhouse. Some were fed to the lions, and others were burned at the stake, as the devil tried his level best to completely destroy every trace of genuine Christianity, but God always preserved seed alive even in the darkest hour of Christianity, to shoot forth on this side of the Dark Ages. Let me say this also, No matter what anyone may think when they read those words written to the church at Smyrna, that particular church had a far reaching influence upon universal Christianity, and it was because of men like Polycarp and Irenaeus that would not shun their calling of God to stand for the truth.

SATURDAY WORSHIP OF SUNDAY WORSHIP

I believe we have said about enough concerning the church at Smyrna, so let me take a few minutes to deal with another point that I believe needs some clarification in the minds of many believers. Seventh Day Adventist people are always accusing us of worshiping on the wrong day of the week, and that has caused a lot of people to ask, Bro. Jackson, just where in the scripture, does it state that we should worship on Sunday instead of Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath? Those who teach Saturday worship have what they consider two strong points of argument. First they point out that Paul went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, to preach to the Jews, and of course that would be on Saturday. But let me remind you that Paul himself said the gospel was first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. Therefore in every city where he went, Paul always went to the Jewish synagogue where he would present the gospel to the Jewish element before going to the Gentiles. Now Brothers and Sisters, think seriously. If you wanted to speak to Jews that had gathered to worship, what day would you choose to go into their synagogue when they would all be gathered together? You say, Saturday, and that is exactly why Paul went on Saturday; that was the only thing that made any sense. Secondly, those who teach Saturday worship are quick to point out, that it was the Catholic church that made Sunday worship compulsory, and from the standpoint of history, that is exactly right; the Catholic church did do that. But now let us go into the Bible and see what is written there. First I will direct your attention to 1st Corinthians 16:1-2, where Paul is instructing that assembly concerning the collection for the poor saints as Jerusalem. He says, (1) “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. (2) Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings (collections) when I come.” Now I ask you seriously, Why would they come together for worship on Saturday, and then come back again on Sunday the first day of the week, just to take up a collection? Do you see how foolish that would be? Common sense tells us they took up the collection when they came together for worship upon the first day of the week (Sunday). Would you not say so? The Christians worship day had nothing whatsoever to do with Paul’s practice of going to the Jewish synagogue on their day of worship, to speak to them. His heart was heavy for his Jewish brethren in the natural. He never ceased to be concerned for them. But let us look at another scripture now, and then I will read you something from church history. Acts 20; beginning with verse 7, is what I want to read at this time. (7) “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. (This might also serve to take the time limit off of how long we are allowed to preach.) (8) And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. (They were in a building, a place of worship.) (9) And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.” I read all three verses there, just so you could see that the disciples were meeting for worship, in a building, upon the first day of the week, in the early age of Christianity. It was not a practice that was started by the Catholic church; they just merely adopted it, and made it law. But to add to what we have seen in the scriptures, let me read you what Justin the martyr, of the 2nd century wrote concerning the day Christians worship. “But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world. (Referring to the first chapter of Genesis) and Jesus Christ our Savior, on the same day, rose from the dead. For he was crucified on the day before Saturn (Saturday) the Jewish Sabbath, and on the day after that of Saturn, having appeared to His apostles and disciples. He taught them these things which we have submitted to you also, for your consideration.” Justin the martyr, wrote those words in the 2nd century, but I believe it is reasonable to conclude, especially since we have actual scripture to back us up, that worshiping on Sunday was a practice carried over from the 1st century when the first apostles were still alive. In other words, they had a revelation concerning the day of worship, just like Abel did, concerning an acceptable sacrifice unto the Lord God. Therefore let me say this to you, When we have so much to base our worship practice upon, we should not be at the mercy of unrevealed people who just want to argue. I would never hold these history accounts above the scriptures, but when they agree with what I see in the scriptures, I just have to thank God for a little more confirmation.

PERGAMOS

Coming to the letter written to the church at Pergamos, we will soon realize that the conditions in their midst even in 96 A.D., typed the conditions of an evil age that would follow. What was going on in that particular church was just a very small sample of what would take place in the age it represented, for its acts and deeds would be multiplied over and over again and again. There are many disputes and contradictions, as men try to establish exact dates when the church actually passed from one age to the other. That is because of the many overlapping conditions that makes it next to impossible just to say, This age ends here, and this one starts here. According to one of the Antinicean books, the dates attributed to that 3rd church age was from 316 just before the Nicean Council was held, all the way to 606 A.D., the council was held at Nicea. All sorts of ideas about the Godhead were being taught even in the 2nd century, but as conditions among the believers really began to reach a critical point, a priest by the name of Arius began to teach his version of the Godhead, and it caused such a stir, the emperor Constantine took it upon himself to call for a council meeting to get this question settled once and for all. By this time the trinity version of the Godhead was widely accepted, but not by Arius. He combated the trinity teaching with a version of oneness that was just as bad, or even worse, for he denied the deity of Christ Jesus altogether, saying that He was just another creature made out of nothing, like all the rest of us. He did not say much about the Holy Spirit, except to deny that He was God, but his doctrine became known as Arianism, and it caused such a fuss among the ranks of what was called the church, the emperor Constantine felt that is should be straightened out by a council of bishops. Of course they adopted the trinity version of the Godhead teaching, as opposed to Arianism, for that is what was taught right on through the Dark Ages and down through the years of Reformation, and even today, it is still a strong spirit that forces a trinity version of the godhead upon people. But we do have to thank God for preserving the truth through all of that, and for allowing us to be partakers of that truth here at the end time. Catholicism, as a religious organization, did not come into being until around 500 A.D., but that old spirit was on the scene long before then. The church in that 3rd age, no longer appeared as she did in that 1st age, for the tares were in control. The messenger of God to that age, history reveals, was a man by the name of St. Martin. He was a soldier in his younger days, more or less as a career, but inwardly, he had a compassion for the plight and needs of others. Therefore as a result of the feelings of his heart, the Lord came to him, and really gave him an experience of salvation, lifting him up out of a life of sin, and making him a soldier of the cross. He became a gallant defender of the faith in his hour, and it is known that his message reached all the way into the regions of Europe. But their battle for truth was basically the same as it is in our day and hour. It is still the Spirit of truth combating that spirit of Antichrist, as it has been ever since that first church age began to be infiltrated there toward the end of the age.

SHARP SWORD WITH TWO EDGES

Let us read what the Lord instructed John to write to the church at Pergamos, the church of that 1st age, that had conditions in it that would parallel the general spiritual condition of the universal church in the 3rd church age. In Revelation 2:13, we begin reading these words. “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges.” Have you been paying attention to the various ways the Lord identified Himself to these seven churches? To the church of Ephesus He identified Himself as He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. To the church at Smyrna He was identified as The First and The Last, which was dead, and is alive. But to the church in Pergamos, He which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Naturally the sharp sword with two edges is the word of God, and in that hour, the word of God was being contested by something that required warfare in the spirit. Therefore it seems that the Lord portrayed Himself to each church in a symbolic way to actually express something of the spiritual condition among them. In this case they had a condition existing, that definitely required the use of that sharp two edged sword, that could cut from either direction. Notice the next statement. He said the same thing to the others also. “I know thy works.” As we said before, that has to pertain to their true works of faith, not only as individuals, but also as a unit of believers. “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is.” That of course is having reference to the city of Pergamos itself. The Lord saw it as a city given over to idolatry, witchcraft, devil worship, worshipers of fire, and to immorality in general, and there was the church right in the midst of all of that, just like Lot down in Sodom. Read it carefully, for the Lord is not saying that the seat of Satan is in the church. It is the city itself that is the seat of Satan. The Lord could see that Satan literally controlled that city, yet here was a church of the living God, trying to uphold truth and moral standards in the midst of all that. He went ahead saying, “Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” I imagine Pergamos was a city sort of like certain cities in California in our day. California has become a state so taken over by demonic spirits, that almost anything that one could think of in their mind, is going on there. It has, through the years, been a state where people would go to get rich, and the devil has taken it over. When we see pictures, and hear of some of the things that take place in that state, we wonder how such a place could possibly escape the wrath of God, but then we just have to realize that their cup of wrath is not full yet, but one day it will be, for I believe the prophecy, which declared that a great earthquake would hit her, and that parts of her slide into the ocean. Why? Because she has become a sanctuary for every kind of evil spirit of the devil. Homosexuals and prostitutes are in high places in that state, and even in the so-called church. Prostitutes form their unions, and use church buildings to hold their conventions.

THINGS GOD HATES

Brother and sisters: I am not necessarily picking on California alone, but she has been in the forefront with these conditions and since I cannot show you the city of Pergamos, I have to use illustrations so that you can understand just what Pergamos was like. You can better understand why the Lord would say, I know that you are dwelling where Satan’s seat is. Their environment did not give them any license to do wrong, but it sure did make it hard for them to stay out of trouble, for Satan was consistently trying to destroy them. One thing in particular strikes you as strange. Here was the Lord acknowledging that they held fast to His name in this particular church, and in the very age that was typed by this church, the name of Jesus became a contested issue. His deity was contested, and also whether He was a true Son of God, or just an adopted son. Nevertheless the fact that Jesus was even mentioned, that they had held fast to His name, lets us know that Satan had been doing something in the church, trying to abolish His name from among them. Actually when you read 1st John 4:1-3, you will notice that as early as 90 A.D., the name of Jesus was already under attack, and John said that it was from false prophets who had gone out into the world, being motivated by the spirit of Antichrist. Then as we have already mentioned, in that 2nd age, Christian schools were set up, and that just naturally opened a door for these false teachers who loved to get hold of young minds and pollute them. They could not accomplish anything with saints who had a genuine revelation in their bosom, but if they could get hold of their children, and feed their perverted junk into their young minds, you can easily see how tares eventually got into the church, into places of leadership. You have the same situation even today, as in every age; where children grow up in the church, take part in everything that goes on, do everything that their parents do, but many of them never have a true experience of salvation. Naturally when the older ones pass off the scene and these are left to take their places of leadership, without the Holy Ghost in them to take the lead, they have to depend upon their natural mind, in whatever function they may have in the church. Therefore if they have been taught a perverted version of the gospel, some of it is bound to come out and mix in with the truth that may still be present, but over a period of so many generations, you can just imagine what could happen, and it did happen. Satan got into the church. No, it was not the revelated believers that became heretics; it was those who were void of the Spirit of God in their lives. You can look back to Jacob and Esau, for an example of how one set of parents could produce children that God would either love or hate. Some people argue that God loves every individual, regardless of whether they are a Christian or not, and I will readily agree that God loved you before you ever became a Christian, or you would not be one, but if we are going to believe the word of God, (the Bible) then we will have to agree that there are some ungodly individuals in the world, that God hates. What I want to impress upon you though, is this. These false prophets (tares) did not attack the way Christians dress, nor whether they walked uprightly in all the Christian virtues or not; the first thing they started hacking away at, was the revelation of the Godhead. If they can destroy that, everything else is a breeze for them. Now they can never rob a person of a true revelation that has already got past the mind, and into the spirit, but it is a known fact, that whatever you hold only in your mind, can be taken away from you, no matter how true it may be. That is the reason some people are always changing their doctrine; what they have been following was only in their mind. As time passed out of the 2nd age, and into the 3rd, those men of true faith began to take on a militant attitude in their defense of the gospel. That is why Jesus identifies Himself to the church at Pergamos, as He which hath the sharp sword with two edges, Now let us realize that when the Lord speaks of the church, He is speaking of only the true believers, and not necessarily everyone who sits in the assembly. That is why after commending the believers for holding fast to His name, and for not denying the true faith, He could turn right around and say, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”

DOCTRINE OF BALAAM

As we said earlier, This church had only been in existence about 40 years at the time of this letter, and they already had these two conditions among them, that actually did not hit universal Christendom until the 3rd age. It just goes to show, that some congregations are easier for tares to slip into than others. It also confirms something that other studies have revealed. That is this. Forty years of time is just about what it takes, or we will say, is all the time that is needed for any group of people to reach a peak, or point where they will either go on with great determination, or start to deteriorate. The devilish city where they were located had a lot to do with their standards of morality, for Satan was continually bombarding them with every kind of perversion that could be imagined. Sooner or later, that sort of thing will bear an influence on a congregation. The Lord said, You have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. That means that there were people in that congregation that actually believed and upheld this doctrine of Balaam, and you really have to go back to the book of Numbers to find out what that false prophet taught. He was sent out by Balak, to prophesy against Israel, because Balak did not want the children of Israel to come through that part of the land on their way from Egypt to the promised land. For fear of what might happen if they did come that way, he hired Balaam, a false prophet, to go out and curse Israel for a sum of money. (That reminds me of a lot of these preachers in our day.) Balaam agreed to go, but he told old Balak that he would only say what the Lord put in his mouth. Therefore as it turned out, every time he opened his mouth to curse them, he would pronounce a blessing upon them. Finally he told Balak that no man could curse them, but he had some psychology that would no doubt work. Balaam himself did not stay around to carry it out, but he told Balak what to do. He knew the holy standards that God had set among His chosen people, and he also knew that somewhere these people had a weakness in them, because of where they came from, Egypt. Therefore he told Balak, Get your young people to go out and entice the children of Israel to come over and worship Baal with them. It was all done under the pretext of just having some fellowship together; you see the same thing today. Their whole religious program constituted a feast, probably an elaborate meal, much festivity, the worshiping of a deity which incorporated the decking of an altar with flowers and feasting around a sacrificial ceremony. Then came the drinking and immoral acts of sex. The children of Israel were enticed into all of this, and God let them go for a while, but then the anger of God struck the camp of Israel. You can go to the book of Numbers and read how one man came in and found two people in the act of sex, and thrust them both through with a dagger to bring an end to the whole rotten mess. Therefore the doctrine of Balaam was his revelation, his psychology. For he knew how he could bring God’s displeasure upon the people of Israel instead of a blessing. So this practice in the church at Pergamos was not something new that the devil had cooked up, it was a carryover from centuries past. Gentiles, before receiving the gospel, had always lived like that. This is why the brethren at Jerusalem gave Paul such a set of instructions concerning Gentiles that had received the gospel. In Acts 15:19 & 20 we read it. “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollution of idols and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.” Some of the brethren felt that Gentile believers should be circumcised, and commanded to keep the law of Moses, but Peter reminded them that God does not require such a yoke to be placed around the necks of Gentile believers, and reminds them of the fact that even Jews who had been raised to keep the law, could not bear such a yoke. Therefore they all finally agreed upon these very important basic instructions. Keep away from fornication, abstain from idol worship, do not eat meat that has been strangled to death, and do not drink blood. These were all things that were very common to pagans, and that is exactly what Gentiles were, before they were converted to Christianity.

FORBIDDEN DIET

A lot of people will ask, What about these scriptures that speak of abstaining from eating meat offered to idols, and from things that have been strangled? First of all, meat that was sacrificed unto idols, was sacrificed to that deity to atone for something in their life. In other words, they offered the life of whatever it was, in an effort to appease that deity, and the other thing is, such meat usually has not been bled; the blood is congealed within. So that takes us back to Genesis 9:3-4. After the flood, God changed the diet of the survivors to include meat, saying to them. (3) “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. (4) But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” God established this law against them eating meat with the blood still in it, and that also meant that drinking blood was forbidden, but, especially in the day of Christ and the apostles, Gentiles were doing just exactly the opposite of that. Kosher meat (Jewish) even yet today, especially in Israel, is meat that the Jewish Rabbi has presided over the preparation to make sure it is bled out properly. They make sure the jugular vein of that animal is cut so that all the blood is pumped out, and then it is hung so that it will completely bleed out. On the other side of the picture, heathen Gentiles developed a taste for blood, and took great pains to preserve it, when they killed an animal. Even recently, I saw a program on television of a tribe over in Africa, and one of the things they showed, was how they would go out, in the morning, and pierce a vein in the neck of a calf, and catch the blood in a cup. Then they would go and mix that with warm milk and drink it for breakfast, just like you might, tea or coffee. That is completely against the law of God, and so in any other form of deliberately drinking blood, or eating it in some other fashion. When those Gentile pagans would beat an animal to death, and never bleed it, but rather, let the blood remain in the animal and eat it that way, they were going contrary to a law God made before there ever was a Jewish people. That was for the whole human race. Then someone else said, What about this meat you buy in the store, that still has blood seeping out of it? That little bit of red you see in meat like that, has nothing at all to do with the heathen practices that the early apostles were concerned about. It is not that you will become contaminated by thing like that, it is simply a situation where those that deliberately do those things that cross over God’s laws, bring a curse upon themselves. You check back through the historical records of time, and you will discover that any tribe of people that has ever lived like that, has had to suffer for it, and will yet suffer for it. Of course we do not know just how far those people there in Pergamos were going, along those lines, but one thing is sure, the Lord said they had some folks in the church that held the doctrine of Balaam, and He wasn’t at all pleased with the true saints for allowing such a thing in their midst. God would withhold His blessings from such an assembly; you can be sure of that. Now that wasn’t all that the Lord had against that church, for He went ahead to say, “You also have some there, which hold the doctrine of Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Not only did they have people in their congregation that believed it was alright to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to practice this free love thing, which is fornication, they also had some that held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

FALSE DOCTRINE AND CONFUSION

The church at Ephesus had been exposed to that Nicolaitan spirit, and they hated it, and refused to give it any place, yet here is another church, founded on the teachings of the same man they were, and they have these conditions in their assembly. In other words, what was just deeds that were hated, in the Ephesus church, is an actual doctrine of some of those of Pergamos. They were already returning to their former way of life, eating meat offered to idols, and to fornication, so naturally this Nicolaitan spirit fit the occasion perfectly. Any church that is not led by the Holy Ghost, is a church where there is always confusion, and where there is confusion, there is always a variety of doctrines being taught. That part is like the chicken and the egg; it takes a revelation to know which one was first. It does fulfill an old proverb about the dog returning to its vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire, though, for they were returning back to the very way of life that the gospel supposedly delivered them from. No doubt this Nicolaitan spirit was trying to set up some kind of a priestly rule in the church, to deal with situations from a natural standpoint, before the Spirit of God could speak out to give direction. Some were probably saying, What the church needs is one bishop with the authority to settle disputes, and issue decrees for all the rest to be guided by. Of course that would leave the Holy Spirit out of the picture, and set such a difference between the ministry and the laity, that eventually, it would lead to human rulership in the church, rather than spiritual leadership. Can you see why God would hate such a spirit? The Bible says He is a jealous God. He wants to lead His people. He did not want their worship services to be cut and dried, with everything preplanned, and printed up in a bulletin. In a Holy Ghost led service, you never know what is going to take place next, nor what time the service will end. But this Nicolaitan spirit will plan the whole service right down to the minutest detail, so that even to say amen, would be out of order. Can you even imagine that the apostle Paul, or John Wesley would have conducted services like that? Some of their services lasted all night, and they were not planned ahead of time, to be like that either.

ROMAN EMPEROR – CHURCH LEADER

Brothers and sisters, it is easy for us to see how a condition like this could have gotten into the church universal, in the 3rd church age, which is placed between the years 316 A.D. and 606 A.D., but what is strange, is that such a spirit could get into a local church within 40 years of its founding, to the extent that it could establish doctrine. No wonder John could write the little epistle on 90 A.D., saying, There are many Antichrists already. He could see what was happening in some of those churches already. In other words, Satan sowed seed in the latter part of that 1st age, that really began to produce a crop over in the 3rd age, some 240, or 250 years later. It was the Roman emperor Constantine, that actually opened the way for that Nicolaitan spirit to rule the church. In the year 312, on the eve of a great battle, he was supposed to have had a dream or vision, in which he saw a fiery cross in the heavens beneath which was written, “By this sign thou shalt conquer.” He interpreted that to mean, that the God of the Christians was speaking to him. In other words, If you will accept this faith, you will be victorious. He had painted the Christian emblem on the shields of his army, and into battle they went, and came out victorious. That did it for him. He granted freedom of religion in the Empire, (made a decree that added Christianity to a long list of other religions) and established Sunday as a day of worship. In the oncoming years, he took a great interest in Christianity, and that is what led up to the Nicene council. He decided that the Christian bishops should be called together, to settle this Arian controversy over the Godhead, and to formulate Christian doctrine. This actually brought about a calm, took the pressure off of the Christians that had been laboring under persecution, and truly brought about a condition that corresponded exactly to the 3rd parable of Matthew 13. The parable speaks of time when the kingdom of heaven would be like a tree, whereby the birds of the air would come and lodge in its branches. That is exactly what happened, for these was a mass conversion of pagans, that began to swell the rank of Christendom from the very moment Constantine made his decree. Naturally as more and more pagans joined the ranks of Christians, doctrinal disputes became more and more intensified, so in the year 325 A.D., Constantine summoned the Christian bishops to meet in Nicea, for the purpose of settling these doctrinal disputes, and adopting a universal doctrine for the Christian church to follow. Naturally there were a few faithful pastors in that 3rd age, who would not even consider baptizing any other way, than in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they were out-numbered, so they stayed at home, and let the others go do what they were destined to do. The trinity doctrine of the Godhead was adopted, and that sanctioned using the titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of Matthew 28:19, in baptism, instead of the name of the one to whom those titles belonged, (Jesus Christ) for the remission of the sins of the flesh. I will just have to say this, no matter what some may think, Any bishop that attended that council, sat there and allowed a Roman Emperor to dictate church doctrine to them, would have to have been a tare. But that just goes to show how strong that tare force was by then. In other words, Satan got his council meeting, Satan got his church doctrine established, and that led right on into Millennial rule of darkness. Praise God, I am glad Satan’s Millennial rule is already past, and that the glorious Millennial rule of Jesus with His saints is close at hand. We will not set dates as some have, but all the signs point to His soon return. Hallelujah! Bride! Look up! The day of your redemption is closer than you may think.

SATAN JOINED THE CHURCH

We have not said much about St. Martin, the man most commonly accepted to have been the messenger of God to that 3rd age, but history reveals that he was a most gallant soldier of the cross of Christ. His ministry was filled with many outstanding miracles of various sorts, but it is recorded that he was a humble man. Even such a man though, was not afraid to stand up in the face of his enemies and oppose their evil ways. Of all the men who stood for God in that hour, his ministry seemed to be vindicated in such a way that he stood out above the others, as the messenger to the age. Even his conversion was unique. It is recorded in history that the Lord Jesus appeared to him in a vision one night, wrapped in half of Martin’s robe, that he had cut in half and shared with a poor beggar by the roadside the day before. That vision is what was supposed to have turned him to Christ. He was born right about the time that Constantine included Christianity as one of the acceptable religions that the Roman Empire would recognize. Some might think that persecution of Christians stopped when Christianity became accepted by the Roman Emperor, but you have to remember, that the devil was not converted. He joined the church to defeat true Christianity, not to defend the apostolic doctrine it held. Every tare is an agent of Satan, set in the body of Christ, to do that body exactly what a cancer does to the physical body, just eat away a little at a time. They started gnawing on the Godhead and the name of Jesus Christ in water baptism, and went right on through every major doctrine of the Bible. Those men of God like Polycarp, Irenaeus, St. Martin, and many, many more, fought that spirit of heresy with all their might, but Satan always has the majority. The ranks of the wicked have always outnumbered the ranks of the righteous, but God allowed it to be like that. For when God gets ready to move, He takes the minority and puts to flight the majority, just like He did with Gideon.

THUS SAITH THE POPE

Before dealing with the last verses of this letter to Pergamos, let me say this, These 7 literal churches did not have every condition present in them, that was actually present in the particular age they typed; however they did have conditions that revealed the presence of the spirit that would dominate that age to came later. The seven parables of Matthew 13, show the gradual breakdown of the universal kingdom of God through Satan’s deceptive devices, taking it right on through the Dark Ages, and down through the Reformation to the very day we are living in. No wonder it took a prophet messenger, in this age, to get all of Satan’s mess sorted out from among the true doctrine of the Bible. That in no way is to say that he got rid of it, but he did sort it out, and identify it, even to the highest religious order of the world. True saints once again have a true standard to follow. Where did the breakdown of the true revelation start? These 7 letters, along with some words spoken by Paul, John, and others, let us know that even in the first age, that Antichrist spirit was already working, but did not make much impact until the 2nd age. The 2nd age was marked with mass martyrdoms, while the 3rd age was given more to two doctrines, the doctrine of Balaam, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, both of which God Hates. There will still persecution of true believers, and martyrdom in the 3rd age, but not like it was in the 2nd age. After men like Constantine added their influence to the Christian church, the main body that was still called, the church, was ruled more by pagan practices than Christianity. The Antichrist spirit had finally succeeded in causing people to turn back to their old pagan practices. Immorality was in the church, and a spirit that put too much difference between the ministry and the laity. These things were identified in the 7 literal churches of Asia in the 1st age, and they, then became universal conditions in the various ages of time their particular condition typed. As we said earlier, What was just deeds in Smyrna, was doctrine in Pergamos. Saints, I am sure you realize that not everyone was guilty of these things; for God has always had a few true saints in every age, but these were prevailing conditions of the particular ages of time they pertained to. What we see here in the Pergamos church itself, is that they did not reject these doctrines of the devil, like the church at Ephesus did. Therefore anywhere you find a certain doctrine taught, you will always find some people following that doctrine in daily life, and therefore it is reasonable to expect that doctrines split church bodies, and so on. It was Satan’s goal to split the body of disciples, and separate the clergy from the laity, projecting the clergy into a priesthood. When that was accomplished, the priesthood would have sovereign authority over the laity, and that would completely eliminate the gifts of the Spirit of God, and there would be no more Holy Ghost led services. As this condition began to be expressed in that 3rd age, it started out more or less as a competitive rat race among the major Christian centers, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome. Each bishop, just like in denominations today, trying to outdo the others, Each one trying to get the most in Sunday School, trying to get the largest congregation, or the largest offering, and all such like. All of this was Satan’s way of eventually elevating a man somewhere, who could be lord of the whole kingdom of God. Somewhere around 500 A.D., he finally succeeded; the bishop of Rome became the one, and eventually became recognized as pope, (papa) a man who would have the last word on anything pertaining to Christianity. That all took place in the 3rd church AGE, in the years between 312 & 606 A.D., so the admonition of the Lord in Revelation 2:16, was both to the literal church in Pergamos and to the church age that corresponded to it.

REPENT, OR ELSE

Notice what the Lord says here in this verse, “Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them (Who? All who hold to these adverse doctrines and practices.) With the sword of my mouth.” Alright, so the Lord has warned them, Repent, or face the consequences. He said, “I will fight against thee, with the sword of my mouth.” As we said before, That sharp two edged sword, is the word of God, that can cut from either direction. What did He mean? How would He do that? Who would he fight against? Not the drunks, nor the gamblers, nor the thieves, nor any other of such as these, out in the world. He was ready to draw His sword, and fight against His enemies, right in the church. They were planted there by Satan. Now that did not mean that the whole congregation was made up of tares, nor did it mean that the Lord was going to cut all the tares loose from the true people of God, for that would be contrary to the 2nd parable of Matthew 13, which says that they are to grow together until harvest time. But the Lord did anoint some saints to engage in verbal combat with those religious leaders and philosophers, that had raised up within the ranks of Christendom, in that 3rd age. St. Martin was a mighty warrior with that sharp two edged sword he carried, and as we have already stated, he is commonly accepted as the star messenger to the 3rd age. But do not forget, there were others, both before and after the star messenger came on the scene, that also defended the true revelation of the word of God. Why did they fight so hard for the truth? What was their promise? We will see that, when we finish reading the letter.

HIDDEN MANNA – OUR DAILY DIET

Let us finish reading, here in verse 17, “He that had an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Now we know that the children of Israel were fed manna 40 years in the wilderness, on their journey from Egypt to the promised land. They ate manna in the morning, and quail in the evening, for 40 years. They had no potatoes; they had no carrots, no tomatoes, green beans, nor corn on the cob, but they did have all they needed to keep them alive and healthy. Is this the kind of hidden manna that the Lord was referring to? No. But that manna that came down from heaven fresh every morning, was a type of the hidden manna Jesus was speaking of here. In the 5th chapter of John’s gospel, did not Jesus say, “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: If any man eat of this bread, he shall life for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world?” Did he not say that? Was He talking about cannibalism? Those Jews thought He was. No! He was speaking of those who would feast upon His word, and drink of His Spirit, and that is exactly what this hidden manna in Revelation 2:17 is. This hidden manna is not something they are going to get when they die; it is something for us to feast upon daily, the revelation of His blessed word. It is that truth that comes from above, by the anointing and unction of the Spirit of revelation. Satan does not like it, but true saints of God will die to preserve that privilege. The sword was necessary in that 3rd age, to preserve their food supply. Have you ever wondered how Shem preserved his father’s revelation, and the other two boys that were on the same boat with them, lost it? Shem’s descendants preserved a one God revelation, while Japeth’s descendants became converted to Christianity and those philosophers among them, became tools in the hands of Satan, to attack the true doctrine, and shut off the food supply from the heavenly storehouse. Many of those true saints gave their lives in martyrdom in their efforts to keep that supply line open, and to some, it looks like they failed. But I will have you know, God has always preserved seed, in every generation. Therefore the over-comers of every age, received hidden manna while they were still alive, and secured the promise of a white stone, with their new name written in it, that no man could read, except he to whom it was given. That, my friends, is your reward after death, but the hidden manna is our necessary food supply for our remaining days in this life. The white stone is symbolic of life in immortality. So let us feast upon the hidden manna, and thank God daily for it. Let us remember also, that the race is not yet over. There will yet be other saints who will have to die a martyr’s death. You can be assured of one thing though, God will never require anything of you, without first granting you grace sufficient for it, whatever it is. If you could just read what is written in history about some of those early martyrs, you would realize they had something other than just their own human strength. Besides that, many of them even had a glow of light around them, as they faced the lions, or the fires of martyrdom. Most of us have coasted through life without any real persecution, but we have no right to expect it to be like that all the way, for there has been a great price, and Satan is still trying to destroy it.